Star Chasers: Lylat Wars
by Allen Itami
Summary: She was kidnapped, tortured, and experimented on. Then she was rescued. Inflicted with amnesia and among people she doesnt know, this girl will have to fight her own mind to relcaim her shattered past. A repost after the original Star Chasers was deleted by accident.
1. Chapter 1

I'm in a crate.

A decent sized crate, sure, but still a fucking crate with airholes. My wrists were swollen and red, my arms bandaged up from the testing. I could hear moans of pain and possibly even pleasure from the other crates in this hanger. The drugs had diverse effects after all, and I shuddered at what they could do to people.

I heard something odd, like metal being struck, and cautiously peered out one of the airholes to see what was going on. I saw nothing so I sat back down, reminded of how one of the other 'test subjects' had gotten their eye ripped out after they were caught peeking out. I like both my eyes, thanks very much!

I kept hearing that noise, metal striking metal. It grew in volume, and from the noises of the other crates I figured I was the only one that wasnt so drugged up that I wasnt even coherent anymore. I was drugged, that was for sure. Even now I was second guessing if what I was hearing was indeed there. I could still see the pretty swirls of color and sometimes saw little squirrels dancing around me. Images I knew werent there. Suddenly, my crate lurched and I slammed against it hard. The top popped open and momentum threw me out of the crate as it kept on crashing forward, barely missing me by an inch. I blinked a few times, looking around the room. I could see the other test subject's crates, but they hadnt opened. I entertained the thought of opening them, but threw that notion out the window. If I could escape now I didn't want to be hindered, and by the sounds I could figure that trying to rescue them would be suicide at the moment. They were all to drugged to be of use and would just slow me down. Normally, this would be a moral dilema for me, but the drugs were making me not care.

Kidnapped by furries, experimented on like some crappy alien flick from the 80's, and stuffed into a cramped metal crate with holes. My life sucked royaly. Still, I was lucky to be out of the crate and now I was making my way down the hallways, noting that the room I had been kept in a crate in was numbered 304, trying to find some way out of this mess. I ducked into a room when I saw armed guards walking through at a flurry of a pace. It made my head hurt and my vision blur to see them run so quickly. Inside the room I found it to be a locker room. Some discarded uniforms where inside, along with some helmets. Best blend in, although they sort of smelled. No name tags, so I hoped there wasnt some advanced way of telling the mooks apart, like some sort of chip. I peered out the room and saw more guards heading in one direction. Cautiously I followed them, doing my best to blend in without being conspiquous. I just hoped the drugs wouldnt do me in on this part.

We entered a hanger filled with, what looked like, advanced fighter jets. Sleek and slim in design and all black, they were actually kinda cool looking. I was roughly shoved out of the way as some more of the mooks came through.

"Get in a jet, Soldier! Star Fox is doin' in all our fighters!" Someone barked at me as they shoved me towards the nearest jet. My heart slammed when I realized I was about to be sent into a battle that I knew I wouldnt win. There was just no possible way! Drugged with no flight experience? The thing I was best at was caring for baby animals at the nature reserve, not this! Which reminds me, I hope Aunt Kara remembers to start weening the wolf cubs off of milk and onto red meat.

I looked up at the black jet fighter as I walked up to its cockpit. If I fought I was dead. If I didnt fight I was dead. I saw other soldiers get in theirs and worked out how to get in from that. Inside it was actually pretty comfy, but the controls were an absolute mystery to me. I gulped, deciding to take my chances. The first thing I noticed was the many, many dials and such that seemed to measure all sorts of things, and then came the steering wheel thingy that was U-shaped and bright blue. I sighed and decided then that I also need to figure out how to turn it on.

That took a grand total of thirty minutes of fiddling with everything that moved until it finally started humming pleasantly and when I pressed forward on the joysticks it moved forward. I carefully steered the ship to follow the others and all to suddenly I was flying freely in space. Now I understood why the ships were black: We blended in perfectly with our surrounding spacial environment.

"... Star Fox! Dead ahead!"

"Careful! Take out their leader, Fox, first!"

The intercom on my jet said. I looked around and could faintly make out brightly colored dots, four in total, that were weaving through the mook and shooting them down expertly.

I watched them for a little while before I realized something:

There are not enough drugs in the entire UNIVERSE that would make me fucked up enough to jump into that. While all the other jets around me made sharp rights into the fray, I made a sharp left. Instantly I had shouts coming at me from the intercom, telling me to go the other direction, but I didn't listen and weaved through space away from the fighting. I dodged an asteroid as best I could but it clipped my wing and I spiraled down before I was able to right the jet back into a stable position.

"... You're not... Venom..." The intercom buzzed. The voice was strange, but pleasant. At first, I didnt pay any attention to it, but it kept persisting until finaly I could hear it without all the buzzing.

"You're flying like someone who's never been in the cockpit before. You're not part of the Venom Army led by Andross, are you?" The voice asked. I blinked and looked at the speaker. There were a few differently colored buttons, but becouse some werent labeled I wasnt sure which to press if I wanted to talk.

"Hello?" I asked, somewhat stupidly I suppose. Obviously, I didnt get an answer.

"... Can you talk? Do you not know how? Look at the speaker and you'll see three buttons. Press the top most to set up the automatic reception so we can hear you." The voice said. I nodded my head then mentally kicked myself when I realized they couldnt see me. I clicked the button and hesitated. How did I know this was a friend?

"Hello? Can you respond? I won't shoot you down if you explain yourself. Look to your left, you'll be able to see me." the voice said. I did as they asked and looked to my left. Through the glass of my helmet and cockpit I could see the white jet fighter beside me. Well, it was white and blue actually. I couldnt see inside the cockpit due to the helmet, so I tugged it off and put it on my lap, making sure to keep one hand on the joystick.

"... .You look strange. Monkey-like but... My name is Peppy Hare. Don't worry, if you don't want to fight you dont have to. Who are you? Why are you in one of Andross's fighter jets?" The voice said. Along with the words I could now see the elder hare talking in the white fighter next to me. I blinked, wondering if perhaps the drugs were still trying to overtake my mind.

"... Rabbit... you look like a rabbit... Are the drugs...? Are you really a rabbit?" I asked. There was a silence.

"Did they experiment on you? Yes, I am a sort of rabbit. As I mentioned before, I am Peppy Hare. What is your name, Miss?" He asked. I looked forward, letting my jet weeve just a bit to dodge an astroid.

"I... my name... Ah..." I thought for a moment. My name... What was my name again? Aunt Kara used to call me Gigi... A friend called me Medley... My name...

"I am... I don't... I remember... someone calling me Gigi... I remember someone else... calling me Medley... Gigi Medley...?"

"... That is fair enough for now, I suppose. If you were experimented on then the drugs may have an adverce effect on your memory. Gigi Medley... It sounds more like a nickname, but we can call you that for now. Do you know how to pilot that fighter?" Peppy Hare asked. I was still in turmoil about my name, but I shook my head.

"I seem to have figured out the basic controls but... I don't know much other than that."

"Well, here. I'll tell you how to land in the Great Fox. We can figure out where you came from when we are there safely and see about getting you back home, alright Miss Medley?" Peppy Hare asked. I nodded my head and listened as he talked soothingly about how to land the jet when we got to the 'Great Fox'. When I didn't understand he explained things to me further. When I didn't understand the technical jargan he re-explained it in simpilir form. Suddenly, I saw a great white machine that Peppy Hare informed me was the Great Fox. It was hard, getting in position, but Peppy Hare helped me out by being the guide to get me in. When the jet I was in was securely I waited. I wasnt sure how to open the cockpit now that I was inside so there wasnt much else to do. I tried racking my brain for information that I remembered. I hadnt thought about it much since the experiments, but now that I did I realized I didnt remember all that much. Flashes of memories here an there. A reserve, baby animals, the wolf cubs I needed to ween, Aunt Kara who helps me when she wasnt to busy caring for the animals in the clinic. Vague memories of a school and some friends. Gigi Medley. I was sure that wasnt my name and yet... It was the only name I had about me that I knew. I hoped I would remember more when there was a tap on the cockpit's window. I looked up and saw the elderly rabbit smiling down at me and suddenly the cockpit opened.

"Good to see you are doing fine! Miss Medley, if you will please step out." He said, holding out his hand.

"Others..."

"Hmm?" He looked at me, a little surprised.

"There are others like me... five others... in the crates... I remember... the room number. 305? No... 304... the others are still there... I was the only one who... who got out and... help them!" I said. My mind started to get very fuzzy and I reached out for his hand. I took the firmest grip I could to pull myself out, but even I could see it was weak at best. I heard him talking, but darkness started to cloud my mind and I couldnt hear him at all.

"You're wearing glasses..." I said hazily before I finally succombed to the side effect of that morning's drugs and fell asleep.

X

Voices. They spoke in hushed tones but erratic. Where they fighting? Ah, must be time to give me that mornings new dosage to see how it would affect me. But wait... why are they whispering? Those furries that experimented on me, cut my skin, studied my internal organs, they never kept their voices low. It didn't matter my state of being, they would always speak loudly and clearly, as if purposefully trying to wake me and keep me awake.

"...!"

"... can't just leave them... You see what had been done..."

"... find them... missing fighters... call sent out..."

"To think that... could it be... where did he...?"

"... care for her?... home... leave her..."

"Falco, that is... I will care..."

So many voices all at once it seemed. I opened my eyes and quickly shut them again from the blinding light. I let out a groan and all the noise stopped as I rubbed my eyes.

"Too... bright... shut it off... please!" I moaned. I heard footsteps and then a click. Hesitantly, I opened my eyes and saw most of the lights had been turned off but one that allowed us to see clearly, even if the room was very dim.

"It is good to see you are awake Miss Medley. Perhaps you can be of some assistance now. We looked for the other five you spoke of, but it seems that they could not be found in the base." Peppy Hare said, standing next to me. I was on a bed with white sheets and blankets in a sterilized white room. Perhaps the medical ward? I didn't answer and looked around. My eyelids felt a bit heavy, but I forced them to stay open as I studied everything I could make out in the room: the counters, the other beds, the chairs, the other furries in the room. Even a robot!

"Miss Medley, if you please, we would like some more information." Peppy Hare gently pressed, placing a hand on my shoulder as comfortingly as he could. I looked down at it, blinking, before looking up at him.

"...Isn't it time.. for those people in the coats and gloves? When I wake up they would always test a new drug on me... Has something changed?" I asked. Peppy Hare gave me a strange look. Wait, when did I know his name?

"Miss Medley... You aren't-"

"You're Peppy Hare... How do I know that? Today they were going to test something new... they said they needed me and that other one... He said his name was Vince... they wanted to know how we bred... Started using a new drug... felt really bad... Are you going to test my fitness again? Is that why there aren't any drugs?"

"She certainly asks a lot of questions." I heard someone say. I looked up and saw it was the blue pheasant looking person. He seemed to be sneering at me. Peppy Hare gave my shoulder a light squeeze.

"No, no tests, no drugs. Miss Medley, don't you remember? You escaped and I led you here, to the Great Fox." Peppy Hare explained. My mind drew a blank, and I tilted my head up at him.

"Great Fox? Escape? But... the others..."

"We havent been able to find them. Do you know what they look like? We can keep an eye out for them." Peppy Hare said. I blinked, letting my head rest on my shoulder as I thought.

"Vince... I remember he had white hair... it was short... his eyes were brown... I don't know the others really... just their voices... when those furries werent around we'd talk to each other... if the drugs werent to bad... Vince.. Clarise... Nick... David... Lisa..." I rambled. Peppy smiled at me and a yellow fox walked up to me. His eyes were a rather startling shade of emerald green and I noted that he had some physical characteristics shared with the Red Fox species.

"You look like a fox..." I muttered, smiling. I looked at the others, using a finger to point at each one.

"You look like a frog... no.. a toad?... Frog...Toad... same thing!... Pheasant... Big bird... blue... are pheasants blue?... Rabbit... no.. Hare... Long ears... expressive... Fox...Frog... Pheasant... Hare... Human!" I pointed to myself, giggling. Maybe the drugs were still having an affect? I wasnt sure, but I felt really giddy for some reason.

"Did someone give her something? Shouldnt the drugs have worn off by now?"

"She's only been out for a few hours, so I doubt it. I'll give her an IV and flush out her system. She may be more lucid after that." Peppy Hare said. The fox nodded his head, looking down at me. I hiccuped, holding a hand to my mouth.

"Foxy fox! I remember taking care of some fox cubs..! Came before the wolf cubs... so cute.. liked to bite my hands... see! Still got the bite marks... oh, those are from the wolf cubs... fox cubs are cute! So small and fluffy... mischevoise tho... had to always watch them... hope they arent giving Aunt Kara to much trouble now.." I rambled on. I remembered the three little fox cubs. What did I name them again? "Named em Leeroy, Jenkins, and Bonnie! Funny cubs... kept getting into the flour... Jenkins hated getting a bath. Kept biting my hands when I washed his fur." I rambled, more to myself. The pheasant seemed fed up with listening to me ramble and he left, to frog following suit with some excuse as needing to fix something. Peppy walked back and set up an IV. I stared as he set it up and hooked it to my arm.

"Bunnies are cute to. Had to take care of some baby bunnies... so cute! Fluffers, Cotton, Snowball, and Patches! They hopped around as soon as they could... soooo cute... so sad when they were finally old enough to get real owners... wanna new bunny now..."

"I think she's lost her mind." The fox said. I looked over at him and giggled.

"Havent lost it! Never had it! Animals here, animals there... both sooooo different. You're a fox, but not like the ones there... the foxes there couldnt speak aside from the yips an' yaps... small to... soooo cute..." I rambled again. My mind felt a bit hazed.

"Ahh... Mommy... she liked to help take care of all the baby animals to... really liked to help... I remember her saying how they were a gift, and we needed to care for them.. Mommy liked to give them nicknames... used to call me Gaga... Why'd she call me that..? Gaga... Gigi... Daddy didnt call me those... he called me Princess... Do all Dad's call their daughters Princess?" I rambled on. Peppy Hare patted my head and my arm with the IV felt cold, so I rubbed it gently, avoiding the IV.

"Miss Medley, could you tell me the name of your planet?" Peppy Hare asked. I tilted my head and thought.

"The blue planet! Earthy Earth... Heh, loooots of water... pretty when you don't actually look at it to closely... Earth! I lived on Earth!" I said, smiling. Peppy smiled as well, patting my on the head.

"Do you know which galaxy that was in?" He asked. I looked over at the fox.

"Cream... no... Creamy?... no... Milk?... Milky?... Milky! Yes.!... Milky Way...! The Milky Way!" I said. Peppy Hare nodded, then looked up at Mr. Foxman.

"Think you can keep an eye on her while I have R.O.B run a search on this?" Peppy asked. Mr. Foxman nodded, and grabbed a chair, sitting next to my bed. I watched Peppy Hare leave, before turning to look at Mr. Foxman.

"Hello, Mr. Foxman..." I said, waving my hand and smiling. He blinked then waved back.

"Hello... Ms. Humanwoman." He said, smirking. I blinked and then stared laughing.

"What's your name?" I asked. Mr. Foxman shrugged.

"Fox McCloud. Can you remember your real name yet?"

"Nope! Gigi Medley... Nicknames... wonder why those? Fox McCloud? Why'd your parents name you that? You are a fox named Fox!... that is weird." I said, thinking on it. Fox McCloud stared at me.

"I like my name." He said flatly. I looked over at him, then smiled.

"Ok! Fox McCloud is cool!" I said. He chuckled.

"I hope those drugs were off soon..." He said. I looked up at the ceiling and thought I saw something slithering up there.

"Me to! Seeing things again. Snake on the ceiling! Snake on the Ceiling!" I sang, pointing up. Fox McCloud looked up and then back at me, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah... drugs still got a pretty good hold on you." He said.

"Snakes are freaky... I like oranges!"

"... Kay."

x

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This is a repost. The original was deleted becouse I apparently broke some rules (the summary wasnt G-Rated).

I am now working on uploading each chapter.

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Flying a space fighter was rather easy. Learning to fight in it was a whole new dilemma. I gently pushed the joystick in front of me to the left and the cockpit moved to the left with me. The screen in front of me showed me that the animated arwing I was controlling did the same.

"Good. Now, push the joystick to the right and the arwing will go right." The voice in the intercom said, pleased with my progress. So far, I had only learned how to take off and land. Now I was learning how to fly properly along with shooting the lasers. I turned the joystick to the right and the animated arwing did the same, the blue neon buildings going past me at an almost lazy speed. The trainer the Star Fox team had, a male raccoon wearing a green hat that I was told the name of but... I shook my head and stared forward, the virtual arwing I was piloting going through another silver ring.

"Good, Miss Medley. Now, make a sharp turn left." The raccoon said. I did as he asked and made the sharp left turn, flinching slightly on how quickly the machine responded. I heard a pleased murmur on the intercom, and without needing instruction I made a sharp turn right around another corner earning me more praise from the kind raccoon that Peppy had asked to train me.

"Very good Miss Medley! You could make a pilot yet! Now, to shoot your lasers you have to press the buttons on top of the joystick's handles. Try practicing on these holograms. Don't worry these ones can't strike back so shoot at them in your leisure." The Raccoon said. I nodded.

"Ok. Thank you, Mr..." I racked my brain, trying to remember what his name was. The raccoon chuckled.

"Tanuki Tanaka. I prefer the name you gave me when we first met. First time anyone's ever called me Mr. Raccoon! I thought it was cute. Anyway, try firing your lasers now." He said. I nodded, repeating his name in my mind as much as possible as I pressed the button and fired the lasers. My aim was way off, however, and I missed each and every target. It was dishearting to see them all fly by me undamaged.

"Don't worry, Miss Medley. Keep trying." He encouraged. It made me feel a little better so I kept trying until after ten minutes I finally hit my first target. I smiled as it went down in virtual flames.

"Good! You are doing really well!" Tanuki Tanaka said. I nodded my head and kept my eyes glued to the screen.

"All right, now for a slightly more difficult maneuverer. Let's try a Summersault. To perform this you need to..." I listened intently as he told me how to perform the technique and then did my best to perform it only crash the arwing. Tanuki Tanaka gave me some encouragement and restarted the training program so I could retry. We kept at it, but each and every time I failed and couldn't pull off the technique correctly. Finally, Tanuki Tanaka shut off the program.

"We'll take a break for lunch and then continue after, all right?" He said over the intercom. I nodded my head, but I did feel bad about not being able to complete the technique. I flipped the switch to open the cockpit and a hand was extended to me as I stepped out, Tanuki Tanaka's smiling face greeting me.

"You did very well for a beginner! Honest!" He said when he saw my downcast expression. I nodded my head, but I didn't honestly feel like I did all that good.

"Good for a beginner? Please! At least the newest trainees in the army could hit more than one target during their first flight simulation! It's taken her nearly a week to learn how to properly fly without crashing and even then we still have to keep retelling her how to do it!" Falco said. My moral plummeted as I looked up and saw the blue pheasant man standing in the training room. Fox barked something at him in irritation will Peppy walked up to me, patting my arm gently.

"Want to know a secret, Gigi? Falco wasn't all that good his first week in training either. I remember how he accidently flew INTO one of the enemies during one of his first exercises!" Peppy said, chuckling along with Tanuki Tanaka. Falco looked completely embarrassed and started to yell something at us but everyone's laughing drowned him out and I couldn't hear what he was yelling. It was funny to think of Falco as a novice pilot like me, but it was good to know that everyone needed to start somewhere.

"No one starts as a master, Falco, you know that. She is doing well for being a complete novice but it will take time for her to become a pilot. Just let her work at her own pace." Mr. Raccoon said in my defense. I smiled at the raccoon and looked over at Peppy. His age was showing in his gray fur and the way he was slightly slouching, making his ears droop slightly but even now he had the flames of life in his eyes showing that he wasn't down for the count just yet. He looked up at me and smiled his eyes kind and fatherly. Sometimes, in the last week and the points of it that I could remember, it felt like he had taken me on as his daughter.

"Let's go eat. Its lunch time and we are closing in on our destination so we have to debrief the battle plans." Peppy said, taking my hand gently in his as they led me from the training hangar. To get from the training hangar into the meeting room where we'd also be eating you had to walk through a walkway that overlooked the hangar that contained the arwings. It was wide and spacious, more so than I had really thought possible with the insignia of Team Star Fox painted on the walls. I vaguely remember Peppy mentioning that it was Fox's father that had bought this large vessel that contained their arwings. As we walked over I glanced down, being able to see all the crafts they owned. Four arwings, along with another black space fighter that I had ridden in, a tank, and I could also see a submarine hung up in the distance. Peppy led me gently through the pathway and into a hallway, following Fox, Falco, and….. The toad…. Toad, into a round room with a large table in the center. A robot was placing some freshly made food on it, steam rising and the smell making my mouth water. I took a seat next to Peppy with Fox taking his other side. We helped ourselves to food; Toad reminding me his name was Slippy, before Peppy got down to debriefing about their current mission.

"General Pepper has asked for our help in dealing with Andross, who has declared war on Corneria. It looks as though Andross has already mostly succeeded, but this shouldn't be too much of a problem so long as we take the appropriate measures. Gigi will stay on the Great Fox with R.O.B. while the four of us head out in our arwings to deal with Andross's army that has already invaded Corneria. General Pepper has sent us these files on some of the most damaged areas and the planets that need the most help at this current time." Peppy said, handing out the folders. I didn't get one, but I still listened as he talked. I sort of hoped I'd remember it later, but I am pretty sure I won't. From there Peppy went on to a possible course through the Lylat system and where they should head first. Fox and Falco argued about one path but it was settled by Peppy rather quickly. Slippy made a few suggestions and comments here and there, but otherwise listened like me with an eagerness in his eyes that made me believe this was his first real combat mission. I was a little jealous.

Afterword the gang dispersed, Falco and Slippy going off on their own with R.O.B returning to the control room.

"Are you going to continue training?" Fox asked me when we exited the room. Peppy walked behind us, still reviewing some data. I nodded my head.

"I don't want to be a dead weight, but trying to learn to pilot an arwing seems to be the only thing I can do." I said. It was sad, but the truth. He patted my shoulder, giving me a smile.

"Don't worry too much about that. Our job is to help others." Fox said. I nodded my head, but I still didn't feel any better.

"I'll learn to pilot one of the arwings. I know I am having trouble remembering things, even now, but I WILL learn how to pilot them." I said with determination. Fox smiled at me, and it made me feel a little better.

"Well, with such determination I'm sure you'll be a master pilot in no time!" He said, patting me on the head. I huffed, balling up my hands and pumping them in the air twice to get myself psyched up for another couple of hours of flight simulation for an arwing. When Fox turned away I checked the sleeve of my long shirt that I had gotten from Fox. Keeping an eye on Fox so he wouldn't notice, I made a quick glance at my wrist to make sure the notes I had taken during practice were still there. Hopefully with this little cheat sheet I wouldn't forget the controls at least. Before Fox turned back to me I made sure my sleeve was back in order and my arm at my side.

Fox led me back to the training room where Mr. Raccoon was prepping for another training session. Fox patted my shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"No one becomes an ace pilot over night. These are just simulations, so just breathe and take your time. When you panic or get stressed you mess up. Remember: keep your mind clear. That is key." Fox advised. I nodded my head, happy for the advice even though I was sure I had heard it before, although I can't remember. Fox gave me a thumbs up as I walked over to Mr. Raccoon to get set up in the special trainer craft.

"Ready for some more training?" Mr. Raccoon said cheerily. I smiled and nodded my head.

"Yeah! I've been reviewing the controls in my head, so hopefully I wont forget them again this time!" I said, pumping my fist in the air excitedly. Mr. Raccoon gave me a pleasant smile and helped me into the training craft, reviewing the straps and buckles I needed to know to make sure I was securely in. He pointed to my main strap and the large red button in the center of the x that the straps formed.

"This is the release switch for the buckles. It is hard to press down even in the real machines since you only really need to press it when you are getting out of the cockpit, but it is a good thing to remember. When you eject, avoid pressing the red button. You need to stay securely in your seat when you eject and the mechanisms in the chair itself will take care of the rest, all right?" He asked.

"Don't press the red button unless I am getting out of the arwing in a safe location! Got it!" I said cheerily. Mr. Raccoon smiled and nodded his head.

"Good, then we can get start-…. Ms. Medley, what is that on your wrist?" He asked suddenly. My heart suddenly ran cold when I noticed that my shirt sleeve had slid up my arm and revealed my 'cheat sheet'. I smiled sheepishly and held it out for him to see.

"Don't be mad. I just didn't want to forget again." I said. Mr. Raccoon held my hand gently and looked over the notes I had taken. He sighed and then released my hand, letting me put it back on the joystick of the practice arwing.

"They are good notes, but make sure to review them later. I wont do anything this time, but please don't do this again. You wont get the luxary of a 'cheat sheet' in the middle of combat, I can promise you that." He said. I nodded, feeling down. I didn't want to upset him.

"Do you think they would actually send me into battle?" I asked. The idea was a bit thrilling, but also terrifying. I could actually be killed then! Mr. Raccoon shook his head, giving me this amused smile as if he was talking to a child.

"Nah, I don't think they would. To inexperienced a pilot, even if you trained for months. I was assured by Peppy that this was just for your own protection. Never know when we might have to evacuate the Great Fox in deep space, so it was the best idea to make sure you could pilot your own arwing so you could get to safety." He explained. I nodded my head in understand. It did make sense, since we were heading for an area filled with armies that were going to try and shoot us down.

"This ship, the… err…"

"Great Fox?"

"Yes, the Great Fox. It's strong, isn't it? We wont have to worry about being shot down easily right?" I asked. Mr. Raccoon laughed, patting my shoulder reassuringly.

"Nothing to worry about that! The Great Fox has excellent defenses and it would take more than some simple arwings to take it down or even scratch its hull at that." He said. I smiled, reassured. He patted my back and took a step back from the cockpit of the practice arwing and closed the top, giving me a thumbs up. It wasn't long after that that I heard him in the speakers, telling me I can start once I felt confident. I pressed the nessisary buttons, hearing the hum as the machine started and the screen flickered to show me the test screens and finally I grabbed hold of the joystick and gave it a gentle push forward.

That training session had gone better than my previous one. I was able to knock out five enemies that time and I hadn't damaged the fake arwing except for when I tried another summersault that failed. Mr. Raccoon was overjoyed and said it meant I was making progress and so we kept at it until Peppy came to fetch us for dinner.

By then I had full mastery of the basic controls and I was able to knock out ten of the forty enemies in the course. Peppy was pleased by it, and I was ready to tell that bird guy about my progress.

"So whay, ten enemies out of forty. You'd still be shot down in a real fight! How bout hand to hand combat? I bet you've never fought once in your life." The bird-man sneered at me. My eyes narrowed at him as I poked my food with my fork. The conversations at the table stopped and there was an akward silence that permiated the air for a moment.

"Birdman, you honestly don't look like you'd hold up in a fight either. Would your bones heal if they broke? I know birds have a honeycomb like skeleton to help with flight on my planet and that makes it nearly impossible for them to recover from broken bones. Is the same true for you? It would certainly explain why you look like you wouldn't be able to take a punch." I said in a flat tone. All noise stopped for a moment but I kept staring at my plate, taking a bite and chewing it before swallowing and repeating the process until Birdman finally spoke up.

"Falco. My name is FALCO." He said, his tone even and controlled. I could still hear the seething rage behind it, however. I chewed another bite of food and swallowed.

"Birdman suits you." I replied. I heard him set down his own utensils and finally I looked up at everyone. Peppy was looking at the both of us calmly, Fox was smirking at me, the frog was looking worried, and Birdman was glaring at me.

"Wanna take me on and see if Im as weak as you seem to think." He asked, his voice strained. I blinked at him, giving him a once over.

"Not scared I'd break your wing?" I asked, smirking myself. Peppy placed a hand on my shoulder that made me look at him. Peppy shook his head.

"Falco, leave her alone. Gigi, please don't get into a brawl with Falco. It wont do anyone any good." He said, looking me straight in the eye. I nodded my head in understanding and went back to eating, as did everyone else. Every now and then I would look up and see Falco glaring at me, however. After dinner Peppy walked me to my room.

"Falco can be prickly, yes, but we are about to go into battle. You are a bright and pleasant girl to be around so I would appreciate it if you didn't antagonize Falco again." He said as we walked. I opened my mouth to protest but decided against it, instead twirling a piece of of my curly brown hair with a finger. Peppy looked over at me and smiled.

"You are pouting like a child that just got scolded." He laughed. I smiled and left my hair alone.

"I sort of feel like one. Mr. Raccoon, Fox, you. You are all so nice to me, but sometimes it feels like you are all treating me like a fragile doll. Or like a child that needs to be led by the hand. I don't mind it! I understand your position, but…. It sometimes feels…." I trailed off, trying to explain myself but found I was at a loss of words. Peppy held my hand gently, rubing his fingers over the back of my hand in a soothing fashion.

"We don't mean to treat you like that. We know little of your race, what you are capable of. If you get severely harmed or sick we have little knowledge of how to really help you aside from the notes we gathered at that base and some guesswork from the fact that your people are so closely related to primates. I know we treat you like you are fragile and weak, but that is only because we have no way of treating you if something goes wrong until you can remember more about yourself." He said. I nodded my head. I had the feeling it would be the same for me if they had landed into my care back on Earth.

"Is that why you only give me basic stuff to eat?"

"Yes. It is all we know you can eat from the reasurch notes. Also, we are a tad low on funding until this war is over and we get paid." He said. I smiled before a thought hit me.

"Low on… funding…? How low?" I asked. Peppy sighed.

"To low. We don't really have to worry to much, we have pleanty of money right now, but when there isn't work we don't get money. It can be hard, paying off the Great Fox, the mantinence on all our vehicles, and even food pricing when there isn't work to be found." He explained. We stopped at the door to my room.

"Is fighting the only work you have? Can't you do something else?" I asked. Peppy nodded his head though he was frowning.

"I am sure all of us could find other work, but we are mostly trained as mercenaries. It is almost the only life some of us have known and it can be a hard life to give up. Personally, I know I wont keep up with those youngsters for much longer. I am certain I will retire soon. Perhaps I will join Corneria's armies one day? For now, I am still training Fox to be a proper leader for the team." He said, clicking the button so my door would open. I smiled and nodded my head.

"You really are like a dad." I said, hugging him lightly. Peppy hugged me back, smiling as well.

"So it seems. Have a good night, Gigi. We will be reaching Corneria by morning." He said. I nodded and said good night. My room was still bare of any real personality, having only simple furnashings and no posters or pictures or color aside from the absent of all colors, white, but I didn't mind that. I plopped down on my bed and looked over at the desk they had provided me with. There were a few notebooks on top of it, only one being in use, along with a cup filled with mechanical pencils and pens. I was encouraged to write things down to help me remember more. I got up and sat in the chair at the desk, seeing my reflection staring back at me from the mirror that was hanging on the wall before me. The same green eyes that still looked hallow and sunken from the drugs I had been experimented on, same freckles that seemed like they had just been slpattered all over my cheeks and nose. The same way my curly hair tried its hardest to cover my eyes, only to be thwarted when I tied it back in a small and thin ponytail that curled as well.

I opened a notebook and took out a pen, writing and rewriting everything I had learned that day about piloting an arwing and anything else I could recall that was important, such as names. The frog's name still eluded me, but I was starting to solidify that the birdman's name was Falco.

I also wrote down the names I remembered of the other humans that had been taken with me. Nick, Mark, Vince, Clarissa, Lisa. I remembered their names, but nothing more at this point. Still, I was holding onto the belief that I would see them again. That perhaps we would return to Earth.

Earth.

I could remember bits and pieces of my life back then. The animals, a few relatives, the reserve. I remember something strange to. Vague images of a furry like the Star Fox crew, but I couldn't piece together the exact furry or when I met them. It was odd. I could vaguely remember a friend of mine that called me Medley but only that they were male and that many used to confuse him for a girl. I tried to remember his name, but I couldn't quite grasp it. A best friend, family, my old life. I couldn't really grasp much of it, and what I could I wrote down in the journals so I could review it later. So far, the only real thing I could honestly remember were small tidbits of information about animals. Sometimes things about friends.

Vaguely I remember a war on my planet, but I couldn't really remember the details of that. Figuring it was important I wrote it down in my notebook. Yawning, I closed the notebook and placed the pencil back into the cup. I got up and switched off the lights. It wasn't completely dark in the room. A soft blue light illuminated it enough for me to see, but it was dark enough that I could sleep. I laid down on the bed, thinking of what I could remember, what has happened, and about what might happen in the future.

I just hope I can find the truth of it all.

But for now, I wanna sleep.

I wonder if Birdman has discovered that I put glue in his sheets yet?

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You can tell when she's forgotten someone's name pretty easily, cant you XD

The raccon guy IS a character in the game, actually. In training mode he tells you how to play. I decided to name him Tanuki Tanaka, but Gigi just calls him Mr. Raccoon. I figure he is a trainer/engineer to Star Fox.

I tried to make this chapter as long as possible. Hope you guys like it!

First planet is Corneria and that will be in the next chapter. I'll let you know at the end of that chapter which area is next. Remember tho: this fanfic wont nessisarily follow game mechanics (since I plan to have Bill and Kat both appear)

Tell me what you think! Also, if there is anything in particular you want to see let me know! Next chapter I will make sure that Gigi interacts with Slippy.

I figure that Falco was a complete A-hole when he was younger tho XD (and mellows oout with age) Gigi's memory problem will also start to get better after this, so she wont forget things quite so easily.


	3. Chapter 3

Boredom + Insomnia + getting my ass kicked on Kid Icarus Uprising = new chapter for you.

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I was woken that 'morning' by an alarm informing me that we would reach Corneria in an hour. I felt groggy as I got up from my bed, the lights flicking on automatically. My throat felt dry and I had a headache. Was I getting sick? I threw out the thought and went over to the small clothing chest Peppy had found for me when they had first given me this room. Inside was only a small assortment of plain clothes, mostly the things Birdman and Fox either wouldn't or couldn't wear anymore, and all of it was baggy on me. I chose a very loose pale blue top and some baggy pants that felt like jean pants. If I remembered correctly Birdman was their previous owner. I yawned loudly as I pulled on the pair of boots Peppy was able to modify for me. I heard a rap on my door and let them know they could come in. The door slid open and Froggy peered inside a little shyly.

"We have time for breakfast. Want to join, Gigi?" He asked. His voice was such a high pitch that honestly I thought he was a girl at times. I yawned again.

"Breakfast sounds good. Got any coffee?" I asked. Froggy smiled as I exited my room, the door sliding shut without a sound.

"Yeah, I am sure Peppy will have some coffee ready for us once we get to the cafeteria." He said, taking my hand in his as we walked. I expected his skin to be slimy but it was actually dry. It reminded me of those shiny polished stones, the way they felt smooth and slick, actually.

"Good, I could use a cup of it. I still feel so tired." I mumbled. I was actually thankful he was holding my hand. If he wasn't I probably would have been dragging myself along the wall. Froggy looked back at me and smiled like a kid in a candy store.

"Yeah! We only got a few hours rest! But I was so excited I almost didn't get any sleep. This is my first real battle as part of the Star Fox team!" He said. He was practically bouncing with excitement and I could feel his hand shaking. Perhaps it was something other than excitement.

"Are you nervous, Froggy?" I asked. Froggy looked back at me, giving me a weird look before smiling again.

"Truthfully? Yeah, I'm terrified. However, I am the team technician and hacker! I need to keep my cool no matter what! And my name isn't Froggy, it's Slippy." He said. Slippy. I need to remember that.

"Fox said I always need to keep my cool, and a level head, but… You know it is ok to be afraid right?" I asked. I gave his hand a small squeeze. Suddenly, he seemed so much smaller.

"Falco likes to make fun of me because I've never been in what he calls a 'real' battle. I know I am good and can hold my own but… I keep thinking… What if I get shot and I can't eject from the arwing? What if the arwing explodes before I can eject?" he said. He looked back at me, his eyes showing his apprehension and fear at his first battle. I made us stop and I hugged him.

"It's ok Fro- Slippy. There is nothing wrong with being afraid. Fear can help keep you alive. What are your instincts telling you?" I asked. Slippy blinked, trying to figure out what I had asked.

"Well… they are telling me that I can do it. That I won't get shot down."

"Then trust your instincts. Don't trust Birdman-"

"Falco."

"Birdman until he can actually treat me with some respect and dignity. Anyway, don't let what Birdman says get to you. I am sure you are a great pilot to! You just need to trust yourself a little more!" I said, grasping his hand in both of mine to emphasis my point. Slippy thought about it for a moment before giving me a determined look.

"Yeah! You're right! Birdma- Falco has no idea how good a pilot I can be! I'll show him!" He said. I smiled.

"That's right! I know you can handle it!" I replied. We were joking around and in great spirits when we entered to eating area. Peppy, Fox, and Birdman were already eating by the time we got there.

"Took you long enough! You only got twenty minutes to eat, Slip, or you'll be getting shot down on an empty stomach." Birdman said, drinking some coffee. How was he able to drink coffee with a beak? Well, somehow he had managed it, I suppose.

"You sound like you're afraid Froggy might outshine you, Birdman." I said, putting my hands on my hips. Slippy looked a little uncomfortable, which told me he probably had never stood up to Birdman before. Birdman gave me a cold glare when I noticed there was some white cloth stuck to some feathers on the back of his neck. I tried hard not to snicker.

"Gigi, Slippy, sit down please and eat. We are going to have a long day today. And no fights." Peppy said, giving me and Birdman a long, hard, and meaningful stare. I sat between Slippy and Peppy as we ate our breakfasts. I was sipping some coffee when another announcement from ROB came, telling us that we were fifteen minutes to Corneria. Everyone got up but me.

"You can finish your breakfast and then join ROB in the control room, all right? We are heading out." Peppy said, messing up my hair somewhat like a father does to their child. I smiled, sipping some more coffee as Slippy got up and hurriedly disposed of his plate.

"Ok. Come back soon." I said. Peppy gave me a kind smile. Fox grabbed my shoulder, smiling down at me.

"Don't worry so much. We'll be back before you know it." He said. I smiled at him as he left. Birdman glared as he reached the doorway.

"We'll talk later." He said. Huh, must not of liked my prank. Slippy gave me an excited but nervous smile, so I patted him on the back.

"You'll do great, you'll see! Just do your best and give it your all!" I encouraged him. Slippy suddenly looked determined, puffing out his chest.

"Right! Gotta go now!" He said, dashing off as fast as his small legs could carry him. I giggled, taking time in finishing my breakfast and another cup of coffee before I made my way to the control room. ROB was working on a keypad that had so many buttons I would never be able to figure them all out I was sure. There was a window before us, more of a screen really, that showed Corneria. I walked up to the screen, staring out at the blue and green planet. It reminded me of Earth. It looked like a jewel. Suddenly I felt homesick.

I walked back up to ROB as he clicked away at the keypads. It seemed strange to me.

"Can you pilot an arwing, Robbie?" I asked. ROB looked at me but I couldn't gain any emotions from his appearance alone.

"ROBBIE?" He asked. I smiled.

"Your name is Rob, right? Well, I decided to call you Robbie! It has more personality to it!" I said. Robbie turned back to the keypad.

"THANK YOU. NO, I CANNOT PILOT AN ARWING. I AM A ROBOTIC UNIT THAT IS USED FOR PILOTING GREAT FOX." He said. I looked over at the screen.

"Will Peppy and the others be okay? I'm worried." I said. Robbie nodded.

"AFFIRMATIVE. FOX AND STAR FOX ARE ALL TOP PILOTS." He said. He sounded rather sure of that. I smiled at him.

"Hey Robbie, can I ask you some questions?"

"AFFIRMATIVE." Robbie said, still punching in the buttons.

"How many planets are there in the Lylat system?" I asked.

"THERE ARE NINE INHABITALBE PLANETS IN THE LYLAT SYSTEM." He replied. I thought it over a few moments.

"Are all the inhabitants like the Star Fox team? Like animals?" I asked. I hoped that didn't sound insensitive.

"AFFIRMATIVE." Came the reply. I thought for more questions when the comlinks in the command center suddenly came to life.

"Star Fox reporting in. We are entering Cornerian Air Space now." Fox's voice came. He sounded much more authoritive than when he was on the Great Fox. Robbie clicked a few switches and a screen appeared on the window, showing the vital signs on each of the arwings and who was piloting which arwing.

"Hey, Robbie? Is there something I can do to help? I don't wanna feel useless." I said. Robbie stopped punching buttons to look at me for a moment, then he pointed to the microphone for the com links.

"AFFIRMATIVE. YOU CAN GIVE UPDATES ON ARWING CONDITIONS TO THE STAR FOX TEAM AND WARN THEM IF THEIR ARWINGS ARE TO DAMAGED. YOU MAY ALSO TELL THEM ANY UPDATES I HAVE FOUND THAT THEY MUST KNOW." He said. He explained how the mic worked and how to turn it off and on. He also explained how I could focus the mic onto just one arwing so that only one of them could hear me or the whole group.

"Slippy! Get back here!" I suddenly heard Peppy say. I wondered what was going on.

"Waaah! Fox! Help me!" I suddenly heard, followed by, "Thanks Fox, almost thought they had me." I looked up on the screen and noticed that Slippy's arwing had taken a few hits. I clicked the buttons Robbie had explained to me so I could focus only on Slippy's arwing.

"Froggy, you ok?" I asked.

"Gigi? Why are you on the intercom?" He asked. He sounded surprised which made me giggle.

"I didn't want to feel useless, so Robbie let me handle the intercom. Are you ok? Your arwing looks like it took a few hits to its left wing." I said. There was a silence.

"I tried to show I was a good pilot, but I ended up biting off more than I could chew. I'm sorry." He finally admitted. I smiled.

"It's ok, Froggy. There isn't anything wrong with that. Sometimes these things happen. Try not to take on to many opponents at once. Remember that you ARE part of a team. Sure, it is great to be really good at something, but it is also good to work together. Ok?" I asked. There was a silence on the other end for a moment.

"Alright. I promise I'll take it a bit easier. I don't want to get shot down." He said. I giggled.

"Good! I'd hate for something to happen to a friend." I said.

"You really consider us friends?" He sounded like I said something really strange.

"Don't you think we're friends?" I asked. Another silence.

"Y-yea! I really do! It's just… I was worried you'd think I wasn't…." He trailed off. That is some serious self-esteem issues, I can see. I giggled again.

"We are friends, Froggy! I like talking to you!" I said cheerily. It seemed to work.

"Good! Now, I got to focus on the battles!" He said. I smiled.

"Right. I'll tell you guys if there are any damages to your ships and that. Make it back in one piece!" I said. Slippy thanked me and then I reworked the Mic so everyone could hear me and then waited. I kept an eye on the top screen to make sure no one got hurt. Suddenly, I noticed Birdman's arwing was taking a lot of damage.

"Something's wrong with e G-diffuser!" He said suddenly. I clicked on the mic so everyone could hear it.

"Be careful Birdman! You are close to losing a wing." I said. I heard Birdman grumble something until Fox spoke up.

"Falco, be careful. I'm coming to help out now." Fox said. It took a few moments before I heard Birdman respond.

"I guess I should be thankful. And Gi. Stay out of this!" He snapped. I bet he was glaring right now in his arwing.

"Robbie said I could help, deal with it. Peppy, your left wing took a hit. Watch out." I said. I clicked off the microphone and waited. Peppy thanked me for the information but I didn't hear anything from Birdman.

Gi.

That's the closest to my 'sort of' name that he's gotten to yet.

I sat and waited when I noticed that Fox's ship took a nasty hit to a wing.

"Fox! Watch your wing!" I said.

"I know. A stray hit got it, I'm fine." He said. He sounded a bit irritated.

"Fox, this way, I found the commander!" Birdman said. I heard Fox trying to find out where he was going and then the line went silent for a while aside from the occasional complaints from Birdman about Fox 'stealing his shots'. Suddenly, I heard Peppy speak up.

"Incoming enemy from the rear! Drop altitude!" I heard him say. I kept a careful eye on the screen and on everyone's arwings.

"Enemy shield analyzed!" Slippy said. I kept a careful eye on the status of the arwings, feeling my alarm rising as everyone started taking a few hits. Robbie was piloting the Great Fox and we could see below somewhat. I didn't want to leave my seat to go see it, just in case I was needed. I really wanted to go and see the battle down below and see if everything was alright. It made me feel queasy that my friends were all fighting and I was up here safe and sound. I decided I was going to keep practicing with that training arwing until I could go with them. I don't want to lose my friends.

"Star Fox report." I said on the microphone. I was too worried about my friends and I hadn't heard anything in too long.

"Everything is fine for me." Fox said.

"I took a few hits, but I'm good!" Slippy replied.

"Worry about your own hide, Gi." Birdman said. I smirked at that.

"Fox, you are looking more like your father every day. Don't worry, Gigi, we're all ok." Peppy said. I smiled.

"Good! Be sure to return to the Great Fox for repairs." I said. I sighed, happy that everyone was fine. I turned to Robbie.

"Hey, Robbie? Is there any way to actually see what they are doing? I feel to antsy sitting here and only seeing their arwing's condition. It makes me feel really helpless." I said. Robbie clicked a few more dials.

"AFFIRMATIVE. I WILL WORK ON CAMERAS AND SCREENING." He said. I blinked.

"Really? Thank you Robbie!" I said, getting up and hugging him.

"AFFIRMATIVE. PLEASE DISTIST SO THAT I MAY OPEN THE HANGAR." He said. I giggled, letting him go. He clicked a few more dials and I heard some machinery getting to work. Excited, I ran off, heading towards the hangar.

I got lost twice, but I had a trusty map that Peppy made for me so I was able to make it to the hangar in time for the last arwing to dock and settle. Their cockpits all opened and everyone climbed out as Robbie joined me along with Mr. Raccoon to make the nessicary repairs on the arwings.

"We'll be heading through Meteo next towards Fichina. Make sure the repairs are quick. The Great Fox won't be able to make it through Meteo without them." Fox said as he walked along the railing towards me. Birdman had a sour look on his face as he followed and Slippy looked rather excited.

"So everyone is ok?" I asked. Fox smiled at me, patting my shoulder.

"Everyone is fine, Gigi. Don't worry so much!" He laughed. I felt a little embarrassed by it, but I ignored that as best as I could.

"Peppy! Froggy! Was everything ok?" I asked when the two walked up. Peppy smiled and nodded while Slippy gave me this big happy grin.

"Everything went well, expect for Slippy trying to play hero once." Peppy said. Slippy looked a little down, but smiled at me.

"I was just trying my best!" He said. I smiled.

"That was good. Just try to remember next time that you ARE on a team. This means that you do need to work together." I said. Slippy gave me a sheepish grin. Peppy patted my arm and walked with me as Slippy took off ahead to get a bite to eat before we headed towards Meteo.

"Thank you. Slippy needed that boost of confidence." Peppy said. I nodded.

"Yeah, I could tell. Birdman isn't very nice, but I was worried he'd wrecked Froggy's self-esteem." I replied. Peppy nodded, and then smiled at me.

"Their names are Falco and Slippy." He said a little teasingly.

"I know. I'll call Birdman 'Falco' once he starts actually treating me with some respect. Slippy doesn't seem to mind being called Froggy, so I just keep calling him that. Sorta easier to remember." I admitted. Peppy laughed.

"And what made it easy to remember my name?" He asked. We turned into the corridor and headed towards the mess area.

"I dunno. You and Fox… your names came easiest." I said. Peppy smiled, grasping my hand in his. It made me feel like a child being led by their father. I liked it.

"That is good, actually. It shows your ability to remember details is not truly damaged beyond repair. You are steadily being able to remember things. Perhaps eventually you'll remember your past as well." He said. He smiled at me again.

"Also, as a reminder, please do not eat anything we haven't checked yet. I don't want to be scared again like when you first drank that coffee." He said. I gave him a sheepish grin, remembering when I was denied anything but water and had quickly grabbed Slippy's coffee with cream and sugar and downed it. I hadn't really known it wouldn't harm me, but I wanted to drink something other than water. Peppy had been relieved when I didn't keel over, but that didn't stop him from chastising me.

"I won't. Unless it looks really good." I said teasingly. Peppy squeezed my hand, giving me a serious look. I frowned.

"Do you really think some of the food you eat could be poisonous to me? I sort of remember back on Earth that if I saw an animal eating it, no offense, that it meant I could eat it to." I mused. I was certain there were times when this wasn't true, and I vaguely remember red berries and a bad stomach ache, but it was to hazy to really recall.

"I understand that might be the case, but I don't want to risk accidently poisoning you. Especially since we don't know what our medicine could do to you." He gripped my hand even tighter, making me wince in pain. He noticed the wince and quickly lessened his grip. It made me wonder if perhaps he'd ever lost someone. Didn't he tell me once he has a daughter around my age? I couldn't really remember.

"Those furries that experimented on me certainly seemed to know." I muttered. He stopped fully that time, holding my arm this time with a strong but gentle grip.

"I promise, that will never happen to you again so long as I live." He said. The look on his face and eyes. It seemed like a father to me.

"Peppy… you have a daughter right?" I asked. Peppy blinked.

"Yes. Her name is Lucy. Why the sudden question?" He asked. I shook my head, smiling at him.

"Nothing, I was just thinking…. I'm a bit worried you are projecting your daughter onto me." I admitted. It did seem like it, now that I thought of it. He smiled sadly at me, patting my arm and taking a few steps forward.

"I know. I miss my daughter. Battles like these take me far from home and far from her. I don't like to be so far, and I wish I was more involved in her life. Does it offend you? That I treat you as my daughter?" Peppy turned around and asked me. I blinked, thinking about it for a moment and then shook my head.

"It doesn't offend me at all. I was just worried you hadn't realized it. Peppy! Once this is all over if we don't take me to Earth right away, can I meet Lucy?" I asked. Peppy looked at me with surprise before laughed.

"Of course! I'm sure the two of you would get along rather well!" He said. I smiled, glad that he was cheering up.

"I hope so! So, what is Lucy like?" I asked. As we walked to the mess area Peppy told me everything he could about his daughter: How strong she had been when his wife, Vivian, had died, how smart she was and how she was in school to become a teacher. I listened intently, trying to memorize everything. Peppy told me all he could and I was glad for that. The look on his face as he talked, the way he brightened up. I got the feeling he never really got to talk or boast about his daughter to anyone. I guess when you work with a bunch of teenagers the same age as your own child that they don't really care to listen to such things.

When we got to the mess area I noticed something that made me wish I hadn't promised Peppy to not eat anything we haven't tested yet. On the table, sliced up and ready to eat, was a chocolate cake. Could most of their species even eat chocolate? I assumed their biological makeup was much more different, but I could feel the saliva pooling in my mouth, making me swallow it, as Birdman took a generously sized piece from the cake, giving me an arrogantly happy look as he took a bite. I gave a pleading look to Peppy, but he wasn't looking at me and instead went and got us food. I sat as far away from Birdman, and instead sat next to Fox.

"What? Can't have any, Gi?" Birdman snickered. I glared at him, smiling at Peppy when my food was brought. Instead of setting it down immediately, however, Peppy went straight to the cake and took a piece that was bigger than Birdman's and put it on my plate, setting it down in front of me with a smile.

"We already know you can eat all the ingredients inside it. I don't see how baking it could effect it in a way that would harm you." He explained. I smiled at him, ecstatic that I could have some, and then smirked at Birdman.

"Guess I can have some!" I said, giggling. Birdman frowned. Fox nudged my arm, smirking at me.

"Happy?" He asked. I smiled, taking a bite of the cake. It was warm, freshly out of the oven, and tasted like heaven.

"Yeah! It tastes soooo good!" I said, taking another bite of the cake. Fox shuffled my hair.

"Good. It was my idea for the cake." He said. I stared at him in shock for a moment.

"We checked some records from your planet and found some records detailing human diets. We saw a few mentions of chocolate and since Peppy noticed you've been feeling a bit down about your arwing training I suggested making you something like this to cheer it up. I was a bit worried you wouldn't like it tho." He said. I giggled.

"I love it, thank you!" I said cheerily.

"Just remember to eat your actual dinner as well." Peppy reminded me. I frowned, but I did make sure to eat everything on my plate. Even though I did feel bloated by the end of the meal.

"Heh! Maybe your species is similar to the pig race! You look so bloated now I'd almost confuse you for one!" Birdman snickered. I frowned.

"Whatever, Pheasant Boy." I said. Birdman stopped and looked like he was raising an eyebrow at me. Do birds even have eyebrows?

"'pheasant boy'? That really the best you could come up with?" He asked mockingly. Peppy gave me a look, so I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, it is obvious you aren't a man, considering you feel the need to pick on me at every turn. Does it make you feel more like a man? Honestly, it makes you look more like a hatchling." I said. I hoped his kind came from eggs. The look Birdman gave me told me I was going to be confronted with this eventually, but for now he dropped it and instead got up and left the mess area without a word. Peppy gave me a concerned look.

"I asked you to not antagonize Falco, did I not?" He asked. I was tempted to say 'he started it', but that excuse sounds stupid even when you are a kid.

"I'll go apologize." I said, getting up. Slippy started to protest, but Peppy quieted him.

"The two need to work out their differences. At this point, I honestly think letting them throw a few punches at each other would really help." I heard Fox say. Peppy said something that I couldn't hear, but I didn't turn back to ask what it was.

I searched for Birdman for a while, but I ended up just getting lost a few times before I heard Robbie announce that they were reaching the meteor belt, Meteo. I sighed, hoping I would be able to solve this with Birdman soon and made my way back to the control room. I wondered if Robbie had installed some form of cameras now.

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Im really glad people seem to like this.

Personally, I hated writing this chapter. I couldn't find a way for Gigi to see the fighting but I needed her to have a use to the team. That was when I remembered ROB (Robbie) would sometimes contact the team and send supplies or a helping hand.

Gigi is going to take over that role until she can pilot an arwing (Im not saying she'll get that change during the course of Lylat Wars, but it is possible for her to join the team as a pilot, rather than a tag-along-kid)

Also, I love the interaction between Gigi and Slippy, along with her interactions with Peppy. Paticularly when they both aknowledge that Peppy is really just treating her as a substitute for Lucy but they are both ok with it.

Also, I find it hilarious to think that it is technically Gigi's fault that Slippy goes after that random mook at the very very beginning of the game (before you even reach Corneria City or wherever it is called)

The thing going on between Falco and Gigi will get violent, but I'll leave you to speculate on that for now.

Also, you can tell how much respect she has for a person based on what she calls them in her mind. Robbie is the only exception, because she doesn't like the name Rob. A good example is Slippy and Falco. She respects and likes Slippy, so she keeps her 'Froggy' nickname for him, but called him Slippy in her head. Falco is Birdman until the two patch things up.

Also, Mr. Raccoon will stay Mr. Raccoon. This hasn't anything to do with respect more as the fact that she cant remember his name. (Tanuki Tanaka).

I'd be very happy if you told me what you think (since it also makes me work faster)


	4. Chapter 4

My headache started to come back as I entered the control room. Throbbing but dull in pain I placed my hand on my head, rubbing one of my temples to try and alleviate the pain. I took a seat next to Robbie and set up the microphone and tried my best to ignore the pulsing in my head. It was starting to get hard to think. I kept rubbing my temples when I noticed that the keypad infront of me had changed somewhat since I had last been there. Instead of a blank space bellow the microphone there was what looked like a screen with a few different colored buttons underneath it.

"Robbie? What's this?" I asked, using one hand to point to the newly added screen.

"IT IS A VIDEO SCREEN." He responded. I blinked, looking back and the screen and then back at him.

"…. What is it for?"

"SO THAT YOU MAY VIEW THE STAR FOX TEAM IN COMBAT."

What?

I looked back at the screen. There were five buttons total: one yellow, one green, one blue, one gray, and then a white one. I clicked the yellow one and the screen popped on, took a few moments to focus, and then I saw, on the screen, Fox's arwing dodge a meteor after exiting the Great Fox.

"You… you actually made a screen for me?" I asked, looking up at Robbie in shock.

"AFFIRMATIVE."

…..

"Thank you!" I yelled out, jumping up and hugging the robot happily. Robbie let me hug him for a few moments before gently pushing my shoulder. I smiled happily, experimenting with the screen until I focused it on Fox for the time being. My headache was still prominent but I was very much happy now that I could actually see what they were doing. Fox shot as some asteroids to clear a path, the rocks breaking apart and disintergrating from the heat of the blasts. Large asteroids that were gray started to come into view. I watched in amazement as Fox expertly dodged and weaved through them, speeding up and slowing down as he needed. It was like watching someone dance gracefully and I was utterly captivated. I wanted to fly like that. Better practice more!

Suddenly the asteroids started thinning out and becoming smaller, letting them have more leeway to fly. I switched over to check on the others before switching back to Fox when a thought struck me: We are in the middle of a war. Why aren't there any enemies out here?

"Fox? Everything all right out there? It seems a little to quite…" I said into the microphone. Peppy's arwing came into view on the screen for a moment before flying up father and out of the camera's view. Where were all these cameras at anyway?

"Watch out it's an ambush!" Peppy yelled. I stared wide eyed at the screen as some enemy ships popped out behind some of the asteroids, shooting at Fox and the team. Robbie's confidence in the team's abilities were proven to me in that moment. I had a hard time keeping track of each of them, flipping the screen between the four of them to see each one as they dodged and weaved, firing their own blast and eradicating the enemy fighters with a deadly but graceful ease. I was struck speechless at how well they were able to pilot the arwings and battle at the same time while dodging asteroids and enemy fire. I could barely dodge a motionless building and was shot down easily by enemy fire in the similations! I made a vow to practice more as they finally defeated the last of the enemies. Now I also understood why Birdman made fun of my piloting skills. Fox and the rest were just being nice, but he was actually pointing out how bad I was!

After that the enemies just seemed to keep coming. I watched, completely enraptured, as Fox and his team just kept up with the attack. It was breathtaking to see. It took me a few moments to realize I was to be keeping track of their arwings as well and make reports. I quickly looked up at the screen showing their arwing data just in time to see that Birdman had taken a bad hit on his left wing.

"Bird! Be careful! You almost lost your wing!" I said into the microphone. I heard some rather colourful cursing coming from Birdman.

"Falco! Don't say that when Gigi can hear it!" Peppy said. I would giggle, except that Birdman still hadn't really 'responded' to me.

"Gi! Again, worry about yourself! I. Am. Fine." Birdman finally said. I singled out on his arwing so that everyone else couldn't hear us.

"Listen, I know you have a small problem with me, but-"

"'SMALL'? Try a BIG problem with you." He said. I focused the screen onto his arwing.

"Listen, I know you have a 'big' problem with me, and I can understand that, but can you at least TRY to respect the fact that I am trying to HELP you?" I asked. There was a silence and I watched as Birdman's arwing dodged an enemy with a sumersault, opening fire and destroying their fighter as he came back down to a normal pace.

"…. I don't trust you in the least, ape woman. Understand that?" He finally said. I sighed.

"…. I understand." I said. I switched it back so everyone else could hear me, switching the screen back to Fox.

"Slippy, be mindful of your right wing! Peppy, you just took a hit!" I reported. I kept an eye on Birdman's arwing, but I didn't make any reports to him. He didn't want to hear them anyway. Suddenly, Fox's arwing took a massive hit.

"Fox! What's wrong! You're taking a lot of damage!" I asked in alarm. My heart was racing now as I flipped the screen to him and saw he was dodging the rapid fire of enemies on him but he wasn't able to take them all out himself.

"I-I'm fine Gigi! Don't worry!" Fox responded. His voice sounded strained though and I was really worried about that.

I switched to see if anyone was free to help, but the only one not engaged with enemies was Birdman.

"Bird! Fox needs help!" I said, focusing on him again. I didn't get an answer and Birdman didn't change course in the least. Instead, I saw him take out a few other fighters but he didn't seem to care that Fox was outnumbered and taking damage.

"Bird! Fox is gunna get shot down if you don't go help! Peppy and Froggie are trying to get to him to, but they keep getting swarmed with enemy fighters!" I persisted. I looked up at the screen showing the team's stats, seeing an alarming decrease in everyone but Birdman's arwings.

"Bird! Come on! They're gunna die!" I yelled into the microphone. Still no answer. I slammed my hands on the desk, standing this time.

"FALCO! THEY NEED YOUR HELP!" I shouted as loud as I could into the microphone. Finally, Birdman's arwing changed course, heading right into the thicket and shooting down enemies left and right. With the four of them working together they made some headway and started gaining the advantage. I sat back down, breathing heavily.

"Birdman. Don't ever do that again." I said. I was beyond irritated. I knew the only reason he didn't respond was because I didn't use his real name. I wasn't to surprised when he didn't respond to this.

"Robbie, can you not tell the others about this?" I asked, switching off the mic so they couldn't accidentily overhear us. Robbie looked over at me, and even without any way to show expression I could tell he was confused.

"This is really something between me and Birdman, Falco, whatever. I want to settle it, but I don't want the others to worry about it." I explained. It took a few moments before Robbie nodded his head in understanding, turning back to the keypad and typing in some commands. I saw that some droids had been deployed that made some small repairs to the arwings. The arwings were still pretty banged up, but at least now they weren't really smoking or anything. I gave a sigh of relief when something odd appeared upon the screen. It was a large fighter ship unlike the others I had seen before this with points that looked like they could possibly do some nice damage if they shot any kind of lasers. I gulped, watching as it seemed like the pilot of the strange vessel and Fox exchanged some words before bright lights started glowing on the four pikes.

"Fox, watch out!" I said into the mic just as the four lights suddenly conjoined into one, sending out a massive laser beam. Fox dodged, spinning his arwing about as the laser tried to follow him. One hit from that and I knew he'd be dead! I watched as Fox shot at a yellow glowing area on the ship until it was finally destroyed, making the strange vessel turn over onto itself, revealing the other side. I got a bad feeling as it seemed the enemy was turning tail to run. My fears were released when a strange beam shot out of a large spike on the machine and went straight for Fox's arwing. Fox managed to pull out in time to not take too much damage, but his arwing's wing was clipped. I got the idea that making reports at that moment wouldn't be wise, so I kept silent but was grinding my teeth and holding the arm rests of my chair with a tight grip. It was hard to watch almost as Fox and the rest of the team dodged enemy missles, the lasers, and still managed to get shots in. I couldn't hear the enemy if they were making sort of conversation with them, but every now and then I would hear a quip from Slippy or Peppy, usually about a weak point, and sometimes Birdman would make some sarcastic remark when shooting down the supposedly weak missles. I stayed glued to the screen as Slippy got one of his wings grazed and Fox managed to finally take out the strange vessel, flying away in time to escape the explosion of the blast. As the camera followed him I noticed the blue and white planet ahead of us.

"All craft report!" Fox said. The standard reports came in, Slippy saying he was worried but fine, Peppy giving his praise to Fox for becoming more like his father. Now that I think about it, Peppy was the oldest person on this ship and had a daughter, but I still hadn't heard any other mention of parents or relatives for the Star fox team. I should ask. Birdman gave his report in his own snarky and sarcastic way. I needed to talk to him. I understand the distrust, but I had all ready proven I'm not much of a threat. I've seen what I look like. Honestly, I look like just one punch would kill me. Honestly, I don't believe this will end well, but I got up anyway, thanking Robbie again for making the screen for me to see the battle, and head off to the loading bay and the hanger for the arwings. I was excited and wanted to talk to everyone. By the time I was there I was out of breath and my side hurt like no tomarrow, but even like that I was trying to get my over-excited jabber in as everyone got out of their arwings.

"Gigi, please! Let us have a moment to have a drink and rest before you start asking your questions and yammering away. All right?" Peppy laughed. I smiled and nodded, happy I had gotten to see their battle and wanting to talk to them. Still, I repsected their wishes and kept my silence as I walked alongside Peppy.

"Falco, what happened out ther?" I heard Fox whispering behind me. I kept looking forward, keeping up my act that I was to preoccupied with what I was going to ask first so that he didn't realize I was listening. It was obvious to me that he didn't really want me to hear this.

"About what? I did my part!" Birdman replied in an irritated tone.

"I heard Gigi asking you for help. I know she must have focused on you so we couldn't hear at some point because I only heard her once and then it took you to long to actually do as she requested! Falco, we could have been KILLED! What was wrong that you ignored Gigi?" Fox's angry remark came. I had a hard time keeping up my ignorance at this. I didn't want Birdman to really get in trouble, but if I made it known I was listening in I worried that Fox would be mad at me.

"I was busy! You weren't the only one dealing with enemies!" Birdman seethed at Fox. I wondered how he could get away with that, but I kept my mouth shut. I heard Fox sigh.

"I'll leave it at that, but DON'T do it again, Falco. Understand?" Fox said. I heard Birdman chuckle.

"Maybe I should fly solo, then." He replied. I heard Fox sigh before we all headed into the mass room to eat and have a drink. It honestly didn't feel that long since breakfast, but I would guess piloting an arwing in a life-or-death situation would make one hungry due to how quickly everyone was wolfing down their food and drinks while I merely picked at my plate and drank a glass of water. I wasn't to hungry. I guess my attitude was different than normal, because Fox and Peppy kept staring at me.

"Gigi, you seem a bit down? Falco be an ass again?" Fox said. I saw Birdman glare at him before returning to his plate. From Birdman's posture, I could tell he was preparing for Fox and Peppy to come down on him after I would confess about our little 'incident'. I shook my head.

"I'm fine, honest. I just…. I just miss my family. I can sort of remember my mom and dad now, and it makes me miss them is all." I said. It wasn't a lie, I could sort of remember them: Foggy, hazy images of them sitting at a table eating breakfast, but I didn't feel any actual desire to see them again. Actually, remembering them at all seems to make me feel a little… mad. Angry. Irritated? It is an odd feeling, to say the least. Peppy nodded his head, his face and eyes showing his sympathy.

"We are doing our best to find a way for you to get home, I promise." He said. I nodded my head. I suddenly remembered that I wanted to ask everyone else about their parents.

"Oh yeah! Fox, Froggy, Bird. I wanted to ask about your families. You guys have parents to right? Where are they?" I asked. Suddenly the room went dead silent and I felt a cold chill. I really felt like I made a mistake until Slippy cleared his throat.

"W-well, my dad is a mechanic. He actually built the submarine we use on the team!" He boasted. I smiled, but my eyes went to Fox. He seemed upset and then both he and Birdman suddenly got up at the same time, excusing themselves and exiting the room. I tried calling after them, but neither really responded. I felt really bad.

"Did I ask something bad?" I asked. Peppy shook his head.

"No, dear, you didn't. Fox is an orphan. His parents were killed by Andross and well…." Peppy trailed off, the pain of the memory in his eyes. Now I felt even worse.

"I-I shouldn't have asked. It's just… everyone seems so young that I thought… I wondered why they didn't talk about…"

"It's ok, Gigi. Honestly, we should have mentioned it before. It isn't your fault." Peppy said, grasping my hand. I pulled it away, feeling like I was going to start crying.

"That isn't an excuse! I should have realized! I shouldn't have ask! I-I'm going to go apologize to Fox!" I said, getting up and running out. I used the map Peppy gave me to go to Fox's room, but he wasn't there. I walked all around the Great Fox looking for him, finally finding him in the control room. Robbie was still at the control desk, typing away and looking at statistics when I entered. He nodded at me and went back to work as I walked passed.

Fox was standing at the window, staring out at the blue and white planet before us. His tail was hanging limply against the back of his legs, and I could tell by his posture that he was reliving painful memories.

"F-Fox? I wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to… I didn't know that….. I'm really sorry!" I said, not quite sure how one would apolize for this. It hurt. It really hurt to know I had hurt his feelings like that because I was to ignorant about them. I heard Fox sigh.

"It's ok, Gigi. You didn't know. How could you? You are completely new to the Lylat system and its trouble. I bet you don't even know who General Pepper is! Or who Andross really is for that matter." He said. He tried to sound like he was joking, but there was an underlining tone to it. It took me a moment to realize it was bitterness. My heart plummeted.

"I… I really am…. I'm so sorry….. I…." My vision started to blur and it wasn't until I felt Fox's hand on my face that I realized I'd started crying. He gave me a smile, but his eyes looked really pained. I felt like crap for it, and I couldn't stop my tears.

"Wanna chat then?" Fox asked. He retook his standing position at the window, and I followed suit, standing next to him.

"My father took me here once. To Fichina. It was a beautiful planet, if cold. It was even colder because we went there in winter." He said. I gulped.

"F-Fox… Ah… How did he…?"

"Andross killed him. A previous member of Star Fox, Pigma Dengar, had betrayed my father and turned against Star Fox. Peppy almost died as well, but managed to escape. My father….. My father wasn't quite so lucky." Fox said. I froze.

"P-Peppy was…. There?" I asked. Fox nodded.

"I'm not angry at Peppy. I'm glad. If I had lost them both I know I wouldn't have survived to this point. I'm glad Peppy is here. I'm glad that he took over after my father. For me, Peppy is…. He is like my father. He can never really replace my father, but….." Fox trailed off, staring out at Fichina. I kept staring forward, but the tears were running down my cheeks again.

"I…. I wish I could relate but… I don't seem to have… any love for my parents…." I admitted. Fox turned to look at me, and I realized I had slipped up.

"If you didn't have any love for them… why would you miss them?" He asked. I gulped.

"Ah… uh… w-well, that is… err…."

"Falco did say something to you." Fox said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. I fidgeted, slowly nodding my head.

"…. He doesn't trust me." I finally admitted.

"What else?" Fox asked. I gulped, averting my eyes.

"Gigi. I can't trust you if you lie to me. I'll let the parent thing slide, but please? I need to know this as leader of Star Fox." Fox said. I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"…. He wouldn't respond. He wouldn't go help you guys until I called him Falco. I understand that he's upset by all that but… but that isn't a reason to leave you all hanging! And then he said he didn't trust me! I know… I know that trust is something to be earned, but I can't figure out why he distrust me so much. How can I be a threat when…. When I'm like this?" I asked, using my hands to motion to my rather frail looking form. Fox nodded his head.

"Falco is naturally like that. We ARE in the middle of a war, so it actually is a good thing to be distrusful of others. I actually didn't trust you at first." Fox admitted. I stared at him wide eyed so he gave me this sheepish grin, scratching his chin lightly.

"Again, remember that Peppy DID find you piloting one of Andross's fighters. It wouldn't be to much of a streatch then to think you could potentially be some sort of spy sent by Andross." Fox said. Well, I could see the logic in that.

"Why would I have reason to? They…. They experimented on me! Cut me open and studied more organs! I can still feel the blade… I can still feel their touch on my heart!" I shuddred. The study on me, doing an 'autopsy' while I was still alive… the fact they hadn't given me any anesthesia…. I shook from the memory that was so clear, and yet was the one thing I wanted to forget the most. My headache suddenly came back, making me rub my temples a little. Fox gave me a sympathetic look.

"I'd offer some pain killers, but Peppy said we don't want you taking any medicine for any reason right now." He said.

"Becouse we don't know how I'll react?"

"Well, no. We know pain killers wont have an adverse affect on you, actually. But Peppy said you'd be going into a relapse from not having them. Headaches are a symptom of that. He said we needed to get you off your forced addiction to them, so unless you are wounded and crying out in pain we can't give you anything." Fox explained. I nodded in understand. At least now I knew why I had a headache.

"Hey, Fox? If you wouldn't mind… ah… Please don't punish Bird." I said. Fox eyed me curiosily.

"This is something that is really between me and Bird. If I can, I wanna resolve it on my own." I explained. Fox blinked.

"He was insubordinate and almost costed us our lives and you want me to just ignore that?" He asked. Well, when he put it that way….

"Well…. Don't make any mention of me. I want to resolve that on my own." I said. Fox nodded.

"I can respect that. We'll be in Fichina soon and we're getting reports of an enemy base there. If you are gunna resolve this with Falco soon you better get going. Please don't resolve it violently if you can help it though. We will still need him for combat." Fox said. I nodded, taking a step towards the door before a thought struck me.

"Ah… Fox?"

"Yes?"

"Err…. I may not really be able to relate much but…. But if you ever want to just vent…. I'm willing to listen." I said. Fox looked down at me, studying me for a moment, before giving me a smile.

"Thanks. Also, Falco should be down in the hanger watching his arwing getting fixed. "

And then I went off in search of Bird.

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This chapter is shorter than the others, barely hitting 4,000 words. It would have been longer, because I intended for Falco and Gigi's confrontation to be in the beginning of the next chapter.

This is so you guys have something to look forward to, and I can make an awesome opening for the next seen.

I suck at writing battle scenes, so I hope that Gigi's sort of 'description' was cool.

I'll admit, I forgot what the boss looked like for Meteo (any inconsistancies we'll blame on Gigi's screwed memory, ok?)

I have to admit, I was going to put off Gigi finding out about Fox's parents until later. Then I realized that she'd bring it up eventually. I also realized that, honestly, although there are a few comments from Peppy about Fox's dad in the game, they never really talk about James McCloud all that much. I figure that is still a sore spot with Fox.

Feel free to message me about anything in this chapter if you like :'3 I do respond to reviews.

I have to things next:

What are falco's parental situation? (Is he an orphan or what? I cant really find anything in canon)


	5. Chapter 5

I left Fox, feeling my headache coming back, and pulled out the map to see just where I was and where the hanger is. I gave an irritated sigh when I realized that it was rather far away, being almost completely on the other side of the Great Fox, but still I made my way to the hanger. I was sure at least ten minutes had passed when I passed through the doorway and into the hanger, seeing everyones arwings lined up neatly with small robots working to repair damage. I knew they had to leave soon so the robots wouldn't be able to fix all the damage, but they worked on the wings first so that the arwings could fly without a problem at least, and then went for the most pressing damages after that.

I saw Birdman standing near his own arwing, overseeing its repairs. He looked irritated but I ignored that since he always looked irritated. I paused a few yards from him, wondering just how I was going to start this and end it non violently. Fox and Peppy both warned me against that, but I got the feeling this would not end without someone taking a punch. It gave me a bad feeling, but I shook my head and cleared my throat to get his attention.

He didn't move.

Prick.

"Birdman." I said, walking to where I was a yard and a half from him. Still nothing.

"…. Falco. We need to talk." I finally said. I didn't really want to do this on his level, but if it got him to talk then I could still work with that. Finally he turned around and gave me a once over, resting himself on the railing behind him. It made him look more like the arrogant jerkoff he was.

"About what? You know I don't trust you all ready." He said. I nodded my head.

"You have that right. You are in the middle of a war and I can understand why you'd mistrust me, but to ignore me mid battle when your friends need help…." I shook my head, "That is just something I can't ignore. Bird-"

"Call me 'Birdman' again and I'll punch you, Gi." He threatened. I blinked.

"…Fox says to avoid violence." I pointed out. Birdman shook his head, giving me an arrogant grin.

"Some rules can be… bended. Don't call me Birdman and I WON'T trust you." He said. I nodded.

"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to listen to me when I tell you the others need help. Peppy, Froggy, and Fox almost got killed in that last battle because you didn't listen. I'm not asking you to trust me, I'm asking you to listen." I said. Birdman shook his head, taking a step towards me.

"You say you are from a planet called Earth, and from the records we can gain I would say that is true, but how do we really know you aren't a spy for Andross? How do we know you aren't secretly trying to kill us? Why should I listen to you when you can't even prove who you actually are?" He asked. I stood my ground and didn't break eye contact.

"Becouse I don't know who I am myself, but I am trying my best to help the people who saved me." I said. There was a moment of silence.

"I don't trust you, Gi." He said. I nodded.

"You keep saying that. It's not your trust I want. You are right, we ARE in a war. There is no real way to know if I might be a spy or not. I don't even remember who I am so I can't say for sure what my alience might have been, but I can assure you that right now, as Gigi Medley, I am loyal to Star Fox. All that has happened to me since I gotten on the Great Fox has been good things. I don't want that to end." I said. Birdman nodded, but the way he was looking at me….

"Can you listen to me when I tell you the others need help now?" I asked. Birdman didn't answer, just conintued to stare at me. My headache was getting really bad at this point, and I honestly was feeling rather ill. I hope I don't throw up…

"Are you listening to me?" I asked. Birdman kept giving me the strange look.

"You honestly don't look well. You should probably go to your room and rest." He said. I gave an angry noise, shaking my head.

"Will you listen to me, Bird?" I asked. He flinched, shoving my shoulder slightly.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" he said. I opened my mouth to make a retort but suddenly everything fuzzed. I had enough time to register him going wide eyed before everything went completely black.

I knew I was dreaming now. Nothing really seemed real and at the same time it felt real. I was walking through a corridor that looked like the sterilized white walls of that horrible facility those furries had trapped me and the other humans in. I heard disgusting things as I walked passed doorways that were only cracked open. Finally I stopped at one, taking a peek inside.

Inside on a metal slab was a teenage boy. He looked younger than me and was bound by metal bands to the slab of metal. Strange devices were above his body, hanging over him menacingly with sharp and dangerous utensils that I could only remember to vividly for my liking. The poor boy was screaming, thrashing his naked body about to try and release himself as two furries calmly walked towards him. Suddenly, he looked over at me, his eyes wide with fear and confusion. He screamed out for help and just as I slammed open the door to run to him the world around me shifted and blurred.

I blinked rapidly, trying my damn hardest to try and figure out where I was. Trees so tall I could hardly see the tops unless I craned my neck back painfully surrounded me. A few logs were across the grown and moss covered the trunks of many trees. Various kinds of bushes and shrubbery made up a lot of the green color, and yet I could see yellows and many shades of brown. Honestly, this whole area was beautiful and at the same time very familiar to me. I took a few steps, climbing over a log as I looked around. I couldn't remember this place, and yet I could tell it was some place I visited regularly.

I let my feet carry me as I walked along. I couldn't hear any bird calls or animal sounds. No squirrel rustling through the foliage, or a bird hopping from branch to branch. I was starting to get unnerved by the silence when I entered a small clearing. There was a large tree near the center and the roots were visible, making a large cage like structure that was at least five feet tall and ten feet wide. I wondered how this massive tree could stand here with its roots like that, and yet something told me I can here often. I saw something slip inside the tree, so I followed.

There was an opening in the cage roots, wide enough for a person to slip through unhindered. I slipped through easily and peered around. Despite the holes in the roots allowing for light it was very dim in the little cage. I could see movement on the other side.

"Hello?" I called out. The movement stopped. Suddenly, my heart started to beat fast and I could feel a rush of fear.

"H-Hello?" I called out again. My voice was quavering, and something was telling me to get out. Despite that, my body moved forward, closer to the silent and motionless figure. Suddenly they turned, and in the darkness I could make out two large sapphire blue cat eyes staring at me. The figure was far to large to be a normal cat. Could it be a furry like Fox and his team?

"G…us…?" I heard a faint hiss call. I blinked.

"Wh… what?"

"Gaius!" Suddenly I was yanked back by my collar as the pair of eyes lunged at me, white teeth and claws bared. They got caught on a root, and I crawled out of the roots, looking up to see a girl that struck me as being very familiar.

"Gaius, run!" she shouted, taking off. I got up and ran, following the girl as fast as I could. I could hear the frustrated screech behind me as we ran. We tripped a few times on roots and rocks as we ran, only stopping when we reached a small stream of water. Gasping for breath, we both collapsed on the ground. For a short while, all we could hear were our own gasps and heaves for air.

"Heh, haha! Hahahaha!" I heard the young girl starting to laugh, finally bursting out in a hysterical laughter that I could only reciprocate.

"W-what was that?" I asked. Was it a furry like Fox and the others. The girl shook her head.

"Kinda looked like one of those anthro things we see on the net sometimes. Remember? I think they were called 'furries'?" She said. I nodded.

"Yeah, it looked kinda like an anthro cat. But… those can't be real…. Can they?" I heard myself ask. But… I knew furries existed. Does that mean I was reliving a memory? The girl shook her head.

"Maybe, maybe not. Coulda just been some random freak that likes to play dress up. Hey, Gaius, there's something I've been meaning to ask you…" the girl's voice suddenly started to trail off. I grasped for the memory as it began to fade away from me. What was the question? Who was that girl? I kept trying to keep hold of the fading scene until finally it was dark again. I felt like I was swimming. Suddenly the area went gray, and then finally I started to make things out again. I was laying down on a metal ground, staring up at what looked like the inside of the Great Fox. I got up and saw I was in the control room, and yet it was completely empty. That was odd, since Robbie was almost always there to make sure the Great Fox ran smoothly. I got up from the ground and took a step towards the window showing outside. It was completely black. I couldn't see a thing outside, no stars no planets. Nothing. I put my hand on the glass, flinching and tearing it back to me. The glass felt like it was on fire!

I carefully peered closer, a sudden burst of fire slamming into the glass. I screamed as the whole room shook and I heard a loud boom.

I ran to the intercom, clicking buttons and calling out, screaming for information, for help. Another cracking boom, more fire against the glass. The whole room kept shaking and there were more than a few times that I fell and slammed hard on the ground. I screamed when I felt my arm break, the room heating up to an unimaginable degree. Fearing for my life I slammed up against the door, slamming against it with my fists even after I felt bones break and skin tear. I could see the blood and flesh starting to cook on the door as the room kept heating up, becoming an oven. I screamed as loud as I could, trying vainly to call for help, but no one came.

The heat was so unbearable.

I blacked out.

Suddenly, I felt something cool against my forehead. I tried to open my eyes but they just felt too heavy. I shifted uncomfortably under the blanket. It felt like it weighed a hundred pounds and it was just so hot… I could feel the sweat pooling on my body, and I wanted the blanket off. I tried using my hands to push it off but I didn't do much. I barely had any strength. Whoever put the cool thing on my forehead must have seen, however, since suddenly I felt the blanket pulled off of me. I felt my head raised and something blissfully cold held up against my mouth. I opened my lips and felt the sweet taste of water flow in. I drank it swiftly, but it didn't cool me down at all. If anything, the heat only increased.

Finally, I was able to crack open my eyes, seeing something large and blue looking down at me.

"…B…bi..?" I could barely make out any words, and my throat felt like it was cracking. Was I sick? I felt him change the cool thing on my head. Now I could see it was some kind of cloth. I don't know if he said anything or not, I couldn't really hear any noise.

"Is…. Grea…fo… ok…? Fire…. Ther…wa… fire…" I moaned out. Was that all just a nightmare? The fire? The burning? I was burning now. Was it a nightmare or was it real? I was starting to get confused when I felt a pressure on my shoulder. I looked over and finally I could make some of Falco's features. He looked worried. He was saying something, but I couldn't quite make it out. Why did he look so worried? I thought he hated me…

Suddenly, I felt myself drift off again.

I felt so hot. Unbearibly hot. Like I was just flung into the sun itself. I moaned, trying to cool off as I shifted around. My clothes felt strifling. I could make out muddled voices but I couldn't grasp them. I cracked opened my eyes, my head pounding. I could make out vague colors, blue, yellow, green, and what I think might be gray. It was ahrd to make out the blurs. So much movement that I wanted to throw up, so I closed my eyes again, shifting again. I heard the noise increase, and suddenly I was lifted. I could feel the person running, but I couldn't find any baryings. My heart started to race. Where was I? where was I going? Who had me? I felt the panic starting to rise and it made me start to shift and squirm, triyng to get away. I heard muddled voices but I couldn't make them out.

The panic, heat, and pain were defening. I wasn't aware of much of anything else when suddenly the movement stopped. I heard a horrible screeching sound and suddenly I felt a full blast of something that felt like needles against my skin. I screamed, struggling and trying to get away from the pain but I was held firm against something much stronger and bigger than I was. I could actually hear my own screams, but the more I struggled against the needles the more firmly I was held.

Finally I started to calm down, feeling hands on my arms that were slowly tracing up and down them in a soothing matter. The needles became softer and I realized I was started to cool down. The body behind me still felt solid, but it held me upright and standing in what I realized was a stream of cold water. I could hear muddled voices over the spray and another set of hands as I was lowered to the ground. Water was hitting my face, so I didn't open my eyes, but I could hear others, many other voices around me as the spray of water continued. It was so cold and it felt so good. I didn't want to get that close to that kind of heat again. Was I really sick?

I finally cracked open my eyes and looked around hazily. Fox was next to me, every part of him showing that he was deeply concerned. His fur and clothes were soaked with water and he was holding an equaly soaked towel that he finally draped over me, making me realize that at some point my clothes had been removed. I could smell a faint but strong smell from the towel that helped with my headache. I looked up at the person behind me who was still rubbing my arms gently. I felt my eyes widen in shock when I realized who it was.

Falco.

But… he hated me. Right?

A few hours later I was sitting on a long metal table thing with a sheet over it, dressing in a fluffy white robe with 'Fox' etched into it, with a thermometer sticking out of my mouth. Falco was holding a bag of ice on my head and Fox was nearby, getting a new ice bag for me for when this one was finally done melting. Peppy was going through a cabinet, reading the labels of various kinds of medicine before putting them back and grumbling.

"This is what I wanted to avoid. You getting sick. We don't know how you'll react to all of our medication yet so treating you will be difficult." Peppy grumbled, shelving another bottle of medication.

"I remember that… my speshies is one chromosome or shomething like that away from apes. If that helps." I said. Peppy looked over at me.

"Were you a scientist, Gigi?" He asked. I shook my head.

"No. I jussh 'member being told that." I said. Peppy sighed, finally choosing a bottle and walking towards me.

"Well, can't do much more harm with trying something. This medicine is used for sickness in most monkey species, so if you are so closely related it shouldn't do any harm. Hopefully." Peppy said. I felt Falco's arm on my shoulder.

"I'll stay with her to make sure she recovers." I heard him volunteer.

"No, Falco. You missed out on the battle in Fichina when we desperately needed you to help with Star Wolf. Katina is sending out distress signals so we ALL have to go. Tanaka can take care of her during the battle." Fox said. I blinked.

"You misht the battle?" I asked. Peppy readjusted the thermometer that was still in my mouth. I felt Falco sigh.

"You suddenly collapsed and scared the crap out of me. Of course I stayed behind to make sure you were all right." He said. I vaguely remember him shoving me before I collapsed…

"It washnt your fauwlt you know. I washtn feeling well ahwl day." I said. I wonder if the others knew he shoved me? I heard Falco sigh again.

"Doesn't make me feel any better since I saw you were sick and didn't make you go to bed immediately. I should have done something, but I didn't. That puts me at fault." I heard him say. I shook my head.

"Doeshnt mean you're reshponshible fer me." I said. I hate having this thermometer in my mouth. When do I get to take it out? My headache was starting to thump again as I watched Peppy doll out two pills, giving them to me, then turning to a sink and a glass. I watched him fill up the glass with water and then walk over to me, handing me the glass.

"We'll start you off with this. If it helps then we know we can give you this. If not… We'll worry about that then." Peppy said. I nodded and he took the thermometer out of my mouth. It felt odd having it out now and I quickly downed the two pills and half the glass, coughing some when I had to force the pills down. Falco patted my back to help it down. It was seriously starting to weird me out, so I turned to him, dropping the ice bag, and stared.

"Ok, you hated me before. Why the sudden shift?" I asked point blank. Falco blinked at me.

"You just collapsed in front of me. You think I'd just leave you there on the floor?" He asked.

"Well, no, but that doesn't really explain your sudden concern for me, Falco." I said. I blinked and the room was quiet for a moment.

"….. There is a difference between hating someone and not trusting them yet, Gigi." He said. I blinked for a moment before I realized he'd called me by that nickname.

"Since when did you call me Gigi?" I asked. Now that I think about it, in that memory my name was…

"Since when did you start calling me Falco?" Falco asked. Ah. When did I? I was trying to think back but my mind turned to that dream again.

That name.

What had that girl called me?

"Gi?" Falco asked. Fox walked up, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Miss Gigi?"

"No." I said suddenly. Fox, Peppy, and Falco stared at me for a moment.

"Gigi is the nickname she gave me. But my name. My real name…" Finally I could clearly access that memory in the forest. I couldn't remember the question at the end, but I could clearly remember the girl in her jeans and loose fitting t-shirt and curly dirty blonde hair. I could remember what she called me.

"My name is Gaius." I said finally. Fox blinked.

"You remember anything else?" He asked slowly. I thought of the memory.

"Im not sure if it was a nightmare or a memory, but I remember one of the humans was a teenage boy. I think…. Vince. He was a teenager. Silver hair. I remember seeing him on an examination table. I don't really remember much other than that now." I said. Was that a nightmare or memory? I sort of wanted to go back to sleep to find out! However, I didn't think it would work that way. Fox smiled at me, patting my shoulder.

"Well, that is good. Hopefully soon you'll remember more." He said, smiling at me. I nodded, then I remembered the nightmare.

"Fox… was the ship on fire? In my dream, I remember… I was in the control room and everything seemed to be on fire. It was so hot, I thought I was going to burn alive!" I said. Fox blinked at me in confusion.

"A fire? No, there wasn't." He said. Peppy patted my arm.

"It was most likely your mind's way of dealing with your fever. You had a very high one, so it was probably just your minds way of warning you. I've heard it happen to others." Peppy explained. That seemed sensible to me, so I nodded in agreement. Falco walked to the door, looking back at me.

"I still don't trust you that much, Gi, but do get some rest. It wont do anyone any good if you collapse again." He said. I smiled.

"Don't get shot down." I said. Fox patted my shoulder.

"I don't know what you said or did to him before you collapsed, but that is probably the most concern he's ever shown for anyone." He said. I smiled up at him.

"I doubt things will change much tho." I said. Fox laughed.

"Yeah, he's too prideful and stubborn for that." Fox laughed as he walked out of the room.

"there is still some time before the battle, so I'll take you to your room." Peppy said, grasping my hand.

"I wanna go to the control room." I said. Peppy blinked at me.

"Miss Gaius. You are naked in a robe. I think you should first get dressed." He said. I looked down at the robe for a moment. I had forgotten I was wearing it.

"All right. Uhh.. Peppy? Who changed me anyway?" I asked as Peppy led me out of the medical room and into the hall, guiding me towards my room where I could change. I still felt a bit heated, but I knew that would pass soon enough.

"Falco. He was also the one that carried you to the shower once we realized your body was heating up to dangerous levels. Actually, we hadn't even realized he was staying behind until we had left the Great Fox and got the report from R.O.B." Peppy explained. I blinked.

"He… did that?" I asked. Peppy chuckled.

"Falco would die before he would admit that he actually does care about someone else. He might act like he hates you, but I can assure you he doesn't. It's just his stupid pride. Seems to be common among birds." Peppy said. I smiled and finally we reached my room.

"Thanks Peppy! I'll be sure to head to the control room after I change." I said. Peppy shook his head.

"I'm sure you will, although I'd preffer you get some rest." Peppy said, leaving me so he could go rejoin the team and head to the battle on… what planet was it again? Katrina? Ka… Whatever!

I went into my room and headed straight for the chest with clothes. Pulling out the nessisary undergarments first and putting them on. Now that I think about it, no one could give me a straight answer in why they had these since there were no other women on the ship. Oh well. I pulled out some pants and a loose fitting shirt along with a short vest. The colors matched well, blue and green, and they also breathed well so I wouldn't over-heat again. I pulled out some simple slip on shoes that were actually a bit big for me, so that I wasn't walking around barefoot. If I remember correctly the shirt and vest were Fox's and the pants were Falco's. I can't remember where the shoes came from. Maybe Slippy?

I walked out of the room and headed my way to the control room, thinking of the dreams. I couldn't remember that girl very well yet, but what really grabbed my attention was the furry. Maybe I should have mentioned it to Peppy? I was still musing it over when I walked into the control room, nodding to Robbie as I took my seat.

"PEPPY ASKED THAT YOU NOT STRAIN YOURSELF. YOU STILL HAVE A FEVER OF ONE HUNDRED FOUR DEGREES." Robbie said. I nodded. I did still feel feverish, but I wanted to be of use. I clicked some of the buttons on the screen, flipping through the team members to see them in the heat of battle. I could see many other ships of different colors and then I noticed a pattern. There was a certain kind of ship that the team wasn't attacking, so I knew those were allies and the familiar black ships that looked similar to the one I stole were being shot down so those were enemies.

"Fox, be careful! The mothership is approaching!" I heard an unfamiliar voice on the intercom. I blinked and looked up at the screen to see that Fox had just taken a hit.

"Fox, your left wing was clipped. Be careful." I reported.

"Thanks, be sure to not strain yourself." Fox said back. I gave a huff. How can I strain myself by just talking into an intercom? I don't know.

"A girl's voice? Well, hello! I wasn't aware that Star Fox got a new member! I'm Bill Gray!" I heard on the intercom. There wasn't a button to focus on this 'Bill Gray', so I just left it open for everyone.

"Nice to meet you, Bill. I'm Gi.. err.. Gaius. I'm not really a member of Star Fox, however. Im just helping out." I said. I wasn't used to using my real name yet, and it felt a bit strange. I wasn't sure if I should give Medley as my last name anymore either. Thankfully, this 'Bill Gray' didn't seem to catch the hesitance I had when I gave him my name.

"Well, nice to meet you Gaius! Maybe we'll actually get to meet once this battle is over!" He said cheerily. I smiled.

"Let's get this battle finished with first! The core is opening on the mothership!" I heard Peppy say. I watched with interest on the screen as most of the attack was focused on a single large circular looking ship that had a spike pointing to a kind of building beneath it. It made the Star Fox team's arwings look tiny in comparison. I watched as everyone took turns shooting at it until it exploded, causing the whole mothership to fly off in an erratic manner until it to blew up. It was kinda cool to watch, but with all the fighter ships it was hard even with the cameras to keep focused on one person.

I listened as Fox and the Star Fox group gave their standard reports, Bill Gray also chipping his own status reports as well.

"Mind if I tag along onto the Great Fox for a moment? I wanna meet the new girl, Gaius." I heard Bill ask.

"She's sick. She might infect you." I heard Falco say snidely.

"Shut up, Falco, or I might just put superglue in your pillows again." I warned. I heard Bill and some others laughing on the intercom.

"Now I definitely want to meet her! Mind if I join you for a bit, Fox?" Bill asked again.

"Don't take too long. We are heading to Aquas next." I heard. Aquas? Was it some sort of water planet?

I got up and nodded to Robbie as I left the control room. I made way to the hangar but ended up meeting the excited team half way.

"It's good to see an old ally, Bill. I'm glad you all made it out fine."

"So how has the military life been?"

I heard everyone talking as once as I walked up, but the first thing I really noticed was the dog in the center. Floppy ears, gray fur, and what I would guess was a military uniform. He looked nice, at least. Something about him reminded me of the wolf cubs back home and suddenly I had a strong urge to scratch his ears.

"So this is the Gaius from the intercom! It's nice to finally meet you, I'm Bill Gray, an old buddy of Fox's when he was in the academy!" Bill said, holding out his hand. I shook it, but I was also wondering about this 'academy'. My confusion must have shown since Bill started laughing at me.

"The Cornerian Flight Academy. You look a little odd though. Monkey like, but a little… off. I don't mean any disrespect, its just I've never seen anything like you before. What system are you from?" He asked. I had forgotten that I looked strange to others in this place, since the Star Fox team never mentioned it. I smiled.

"The Milky Way Galaxy. Specifically, Planet Earth." I said. Bill nodded his head, rubbing his chin in thought. He looked so cute!

"Huh, that underdeveloped planetary system, huh?" It sounded like a question, but I knew it wasn't. Still, it got me confused.

"You know about it?" I asked. Bill nodded.

"Do you know anything about the indiginise inhabitants? We are having a hard time feeding Gaius and treating her for any ailments because we know so little." Peppy stepped forward. Bill nodded.

"I'll send you the files right away, not that it'll be much. All we have is a few dietary, behavioral, and cultural studies from a while ago. No telling if they'd still be accurate, really. The Milky Way system is still largely underdeveloped and the only inhabited planet, Earth, is war-torn, and no offense, rather barbaric in nature at this time. We don't have much, but I'll be sure to send you copies of what we got." He said. Fox nodded.

"She isn't the only Earthling in the Lylat system from what we know. We don't know much about the others, but Gaius swears she was one of six that were captured by Andross." Fox said. I started to feel like a third wheel, but I kept attentive.

"I'll put word out to keep watch for them then. As a canine I'm naturally social, and from what the reports of humans are, so are they. I can understand if she might be suffering due to not having any of her own kind here." He said. I blinked. Suffering? Everyone else seemed confused to, so he went on.

"Well, you remember, Fox, how that one bird suddenly got really sick and we couldn't figure out why during our days in the academy? Something like this can also happen to her, possibly. If a creature is social by nature than they will need at least one other member of its own kind, otherwise they can start to become ill, or at the very least severely depressed or volatile. It isn't unheard of. You remember back in the days of the academy. After that one bird that got sick the academy always made sure there was two of every species so we were never really without like-company. The reports say humans live in groups. You mentioned earlier she suddenly fell ill. It might have actually been due to unknown stress brought on by feeling alone." Bill explained. It kinda made sense. In a non-sensacle way. I guess the others, or at least Slippy, were confused to.

"But she has us." He pointed out. That was true. I didn't honestly feel lonely because of them. Bill still shook his head.

"You guys are on missions a lot now. Besides, how best can she relate to you guys, who are completely outside her species?" He asked. He had a point there.

"Very difficultly, actually. I can relate to the parts that seem human to me: their grief over lost loved ones, or their frustration when they mess something up, but…. I cant really relate to Peppy getting mad at Falco for molting." I said. Fox snickered at Falco's expense, but it was true. Bill nodded, smiling at me.

"I'll send word out for the others to keep an eye out. She needs others of her own kind or she might get sick again. Anyway, I think this was a long enough visit so I should probably head back. Lots of work to do now." Bill said. Fox nodded, and I felt a bit at a loss.

"Do you really have to go?" I asked. Bill nodded, smiling at me.

"I'll see about visiting again soon. The reports did mention that your kind did keep a non-sentiant species of canines as companions, so I'm not surprised that you might be a little sad to see me go." He said. I blushed, not thinking of it that way before. How detailed were these reports? Hopefully detailed enough that I would be able to eat different kinds of foods after this. Everyone bid farewell to Bill, and I heard him mention to Fox about possibly getting me a small non-sentiant animal for me to care for to help, but other than that his departure wasn't remarkable. I thought about what he said about me and other humans being social by nature, and that I might be getting stressed or depressed without another human. It was a strange thought to me, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense to me.

I did feel lonely.

Even with the Star Fox team, I felt lonely.

I was in my room contemplating it while we flew towards that planet, Aquas, when I heard a knock on my door.

"It isn't locked." I said. I heard a muffled sound and then the door slid open, revealing Slippy. I blinked at him.

"Shouldn't you be resting? You have to help Fox on Aquas, right?" I asked. Slippy shook his head.

"Actually, Fox will be soloing that mission. I'll get to help you out in the control room!" Slippy said excitedly. I smiled, nodding my head.

"A-anyway, there was a reason I was coming here. Err, may I?" He asked, motioning his hand to ask if it was ok for him to enter my room. I nodded my head, shifting so there was enough room for him on the bed. He walked in but didn't sit down until I patted the area of the bed next to me so he could sit down.

"What's on your mind, Froggy?" I asked. His self-confidence had risen, I knew that, but he seemed really troubled by a different reason now. He fidgeted slightly, taking a deep breathe.

"I-I know Bill said you should have other humans for companionship, a-and that he suggested a small pet for you, b-but I wanted you to know that even i-if I am a p-poor substitute you will always be my friend and that I-I'll always be th-there to listen if you e-ever w-want to talk or-or just hang out, o-or.. or… y'know!" He said, jabbering quickly. It took me a few moments to realize and process what he had said, making him shift nervously while he sat next to me, staring intently at his own shoes. Finally, I smiled, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you, Slippy. Really." I said, nuzzling my face into his hat. He giggled, squirming a bit in my grasp.

"Th-that tickles Gigi!" He said. I let him go, smiling fondly at him.

"You know, my name is Gaius now. Since I remembered it you really don't have to call me that anymore." I said. Slippy smiled brightly at me.

"I know, but I like it when you call me Froggy. So I was hoping that if I kept calling you Gigi, that maybe you'd keep calling me Froggy!" He said. I giggled. Sometimes it was hard to believe he was actually eighteen years old. He seemed so childish at times. Still, it was comforting to know that he liked that nickcname.

"Ok, Froggy. But you better go get some rest!" I said. Slippy gave me a sheepish smile.

"Ok, ok, Mom! I'll go to bed!" He teased, running out of the room before I could respond. I laughed, finally laying down on my own bed. I switched off the lights and let my mind wander until finally I drifted off into sleep.

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Long ass chapter.

I actually adore how this chapter came out.

Anyway: on the topic of the FoxXKyrstal pairing: The reason I asked was because this fanfic WILL go on till the end of Assult. The reason I was asking your opinion on the pairing was because I wasn't sure yet if people would mind if that became the later canon pairing for Fox. I wont introduce Krystal now (during the Lylat Wars) but in the Third Star chasers fanfic, Star Chasers: Assult, she will be there. I was simply wondering if people would be against me taking the canon route and pairing her up with Fox (personally, I like them more as friends)

Didn't Beta or Spell check this because by the time I realized I hadn't I was to far gone to really care.

Maybe I should invest in a beta…. Oh well.

Stay tuned for Aquas next!

Btw, Star Fox is going to Titiana. The planet I had personally never actually beaten by myself… this will be fun.

Falco and Gaius will get in more arguments tho.


	6. sorry

long time no update, I guess.

there are a lot of reasons I havent updated in a while. I got a second job becouse my family and I were running out of money becouse of my older brother. My older brother took his alchohalism to an all new level when he came home hammered (after just getting out of the mental ward at the hospital after attempting suicide) and hit my mom and little brother after they tried to stop him from drinking more.

Honestly, it is all getting to me really bad, and I even missed work. I really just want everything to go back to normal, but I honestly doubt they ever will.

It hurts a lot, and I dont really have the desire to write. The newest chapters for my fanfics are all pretty much half done or almost done but... I dont have the drive to finish them at all. I just dont.

Sorry. It may be a lot longer until I update...


	7. Chapter 6

I gently shifted the joystick to the right, the virtual arwing I was piloting leisurely turning to the right as well. I pushed the joystick left, and the arwing went left as well. Turning sharply right I felt the go a sharp right, the feeling of a sudden pressure as I turned pushing down on me until I righted the arwing. I turned sharply left and the same result happened. I sighed, focusing as the next part of the training came up: shooting enemies.

I aimed as carefully as I could as I came up to the first enemy, letting out a single shot. I clipped their wing. I shot again and this time I managed to hit them dead center, causing the virtual enemy to explode and me to shiver involuntarily. I kept my eyes open and tried to be as focused as possible when two new enemies blipped onto the screen, one firing a shot at me that I had to quickly dodge. The shot nearly clipped my wing and I quickly let out a shot of my own. I only knocked off one of its wings, but it fell and exploded on the ground and I made quick work of the other enemy. After this the enemies came in different numbers, some in groups of up to four, and some single enemies. Some attacked me while some didn't, but I was finally able to get most of them.

Finally, some of the enemies began moving and my hits started missing more and more. When a few started attacking me I got hit a few times.

"We are going into a wide battle area. You need to switch to All Range Mode." Mr. Raccoon told me on the intercom. I quickly looked at the dashboard then back to the screen. I used one hand to flick the switch and I heard the sound of the wings on my electronical arwing move into the all range mode position. Suddenly, a large group of enemies appeared, swarming around me and shooting at me. I felt my heart starting to race as I tried to dive and weave through them, shooting at what enemies I could before something took out my wing and my arwing went hurtling to the ground. As a flash of fire came across the screen I screamed and then everything went completely black.

A light flooded the cockpit and I saw Peppy staring at me with wide eyes.

"Gaius, what's wrong? You're crying!" He asked, alarmed. I blinked and that was when I realized that not only was I crying, I was also shaking. I wiped away some of the tears, but they didn't stop and Peppy had to help me out of the cockpit.

"Gaius, what is wrong? Please, tell me!" He said urgently, holding both my arms. I sunk to my knees, trying to wipe away all of the tears. When had I gotten so scared? Oh, that's right.

"The fire…. I got scared by the fire." I said shakily. Peppy blinked a few times before I saw him turn to Mr. Raccoon.

"I'm going to take Gaius to the mess room to rest and eat. Before she trains again can you eliminate the fire in the training program?" He asked. I got to my feet again, finally able to wipe away the tears completely. I was still shaking, but at least I wasn't crying. I saw Mr. Raccoon nod his head.

"Sure thing. Next time she practices there wont be any images of fire in the simulation. Y'might want to work with her on that fear of fire, however. If we go anywhere near Solar…" Mr. Raccoon trailed off. Solar? Like a sun? Was there fire there? I guess the apprehension showed on my face because Peppy gently held my hand and nodded to Mr. Raccoon.

"I'll be sure to work on that, so please work on the training course." Peppy said, his voice informative. Mr. Raccoon nodded his head and istantly got to work on the training program on a computer moniter that was there. I wondered how long it would take.

"You aren't upset, are you Peppy? I mean… I didn't mean to get so frightened and mess up like that, I…" I tried explaining. Peppy stopped and hugged me, which was a little odd since his head came to my chest, but still it made me feel a little better. I hugged him back, smiling lightly.

"I can't be upset at you for what happened. You reacted accordingly, after all. Still, Tanaka was right, we need to work on your fear of fire. Until then, we'll remove it from the simulation. Now, we need to eat and then we can all go to the control room to watch Fox as he pilots the Blue Marine into Aquas." Peppy said with a fatherly smile. I smiled back and took his outstretched hand.

"Ok, so what is for lunch?" I asked. We talked about idle things after that and were rather happy and even excited by the time we reached the mess room. No one else was in the room with us as we ate, and Peppy explained to me that it was because Fox was getting ready and Slippy and Falco were already in the control room getting things set up. We didn't talk that much while we ate other than some rather interesting talk about dreams. I didn't know Peppy once had a nightmare about being a carrot and getting eaten, leading to him not eating carrots ever again. It was nice to hear about.

When we finished eating we went straight to the deck to see Slippy had a moniter up that showed what looked like the inside of the hanger and was typing away on a keyboard and computer screen. Falco was propped up on a railing, watching the screen with a bored look on his face. Peppy walked over to ROB and started talking to him and when the moniter seemed to move, or at least the image on the moniter, I realized it might be showing what Fox was seeing in the Blue Marine. Slippy kept typing away at a small moniter and I saw some data that looked like it could be about the Blue Marine, judging by the picture and diagrams on the moniter that was lit up in neon colors. I kept looking around for something to do as ROB lowered the Great Fox into the water of the planet and Slippy pressed some controls so that the Blue Marine could deploy but I couldn't really find anything. Falco kept ignoring me and Peppy stood close to me as he kept an eye on all the data on the screens.

Finally I decided to just sit in one of the chairs next to Slippy, watching the screen. It was kinda interesting to watch as the Blue Marine was deployed. Slippy talked into the microphone, telling Fox updates and that they seemed to have an endless supply of torpedoes for Fox to use. I was glued to the screen myself. The array of colors and wildlife in Aquas was simply stunning! I couldn't name any of the creatures all though some looked familiar to me. Fox shot away any that looked unnatural for the environment, or unnatural to them at least. Every now and then we would see ruins from long gone civilizations: ruined pillars, broken down buildings covered in coral. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a fantastical sight. However, I was starting to get rather bored and wanted to find another means to entertain myself. I glanced around and saw that everyone's full attentions were on the screen so that left me the only one actually kinda bored. I wanted something to do and I really did try to keep my attention on Fox but my attention kept drifting until finally I let my eyes wander around the room to find other courses of entertainment.

I noticed a few habits from the Star Fox crew while they watched Fox. Falco liked to keep his arms, or maybe I should call them wings, crossed. If something particularly annoyed him he'd cluck his beak together sharply and his right hand would grip his arm, wing?, harder.

Slippy got really excited when things got heated but now that I could watch him I saw that his eyes would get really wide when it happened and then he'd start running one of his hands along either a utility belt he always wore or that utility necklace he had.

Peppy's habits were kinda cute. All I had to really do was watch his ears. When Fox did something that made him happy the tips would tap together and when Peppy got angry then they would fall back. I saw that Peppy had another habit to. He kept putting his hand in his pocket, like there was something in there he used for comfort. He never pulled it out so I had no idea what it was but it did make me really, really curious.

Sudden bright colors brought my attention back to the screen. Fox was battling something that looked like a giant clam. He kept firing torpedoes at the membranes that held the shells together until he could get aim and fire at the actual monster itself. The whole creature looked very unnatural and suddenly it made me really detest clams and oysters.

"Careful Fox!" I heard Slippy say into the microphone. I didn't hear if Fox made any kind of a response since I was to focused on the screen. It was really strange to see this thing.

"What is that?" I whispered to Peppy. Peppy's ear twitched in my direction but he didn't look towards me when he spoke.

"A bio weapon made by Andross. He planned to use it to take over this whole planet." Peppy explained. I frowned.

"Horrible. Why does he want to take over Lylat anyway?" I asked. Peppy gave an airy chuckle, the sort you make when you find something rather pathetic rather than funny.

"Revenge, I suppose. Andross had once been in Corneria's military and had even attempted to make an unhabital planet, Venom, habitable. Sadly, something changed and it seems as though he's lost his mind. He launched an attack against Corneria and Lylat. Eventually he was beaten back but and exiled but…"

"Now he's back seeking revenge." I finished the rest on my own. Peppy nodded.

"He has caused a lot of damage. Hopefuly we can end this soon. I don't want to lose anymore lives to this pointless fight." Peppy said. I nodded but I still felt uneasy.

"I noticed something… Most of Andross's soldiers are reptiles or monkeys. Why?" I asked. Fox took a dive to avoid being hit by one of the giant clam's attacks and for a moment the screen went really blurry as Slippy complained about damages to Fox's ship.

"Andross himself is a monkey, actually. Most of his kind followed him when he originally went to Venom to reform it. Some returned to our side when Andross launched his initial attack but most stayed by him based on the desire for their own separate government. Reptiles... Riches, I would suppose. They weren't part of Andross's orginal force during his first attack so I would figure he lured them into this with promises of wealth and fame." Peppy said quietly. Falco glanced over at us but didn't say anything. I could tell he was annoyed though since he had a pretty strong grip on his left arm.

"That seems rather stupid to me. Riches and wealth in a conquered system. Even after that, Andross would have to keep fighting to keep Lylat after his initial victory. He'd always have to fight. Why not try a more diplomatic approach to getting the Lylat system?"

"Becouse he's an insane ape, now pipe down!" Falco spoke up suddenly. He clucked his beak together and turned back to the screen and now I was really annoyed. Peppy put a hand on my shoulder.

"You make a good point though." He said reassuringly. I nodded.

"It must be very lonely… to be evil." I muttered.

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I cannot even begin to express how sorry I am that I haven't uploaded this sooner. It's just that a whole shit ton has been happening lately and I hadn't had the time to work on really any of my fanfics at all. A second job that went to the shitter due to a new dickwad manager, my first job getting piled on me because my coworkers are dicks, my older brother moving in with us, my little brother being annoying, holidays, medical emergencies, and then I turned 21 and my brother insists on taking me to the bar frequently.

I originally was going to include more in this chapter until I realized that I hadn't updated in MONTHS. Originally I was going to continue Gaius's and Peppy's discussion in the Mess Hall (or the Hanger, I hadn't really decided on the location yet) and try to bring more of a backstory not just o Andross but the war itself.

Ended up not happening but I still plan to add that information.

I no longer had internet connection at my house (im currently at the nearest bar, actually, using their wifi) but I promise I will try to get another chapter up as soon as I can. Im trying my best, I really am.

Just for those who are curious about the medical emergency: I kinda got into a bit of an accident and now I have about 24 stitches in my hip. Im not saying much about what happened but only that the other fucker walked away with much worse than what I got (but now I cant walk well and my left arm is broken).

Also, for those who congradulate me on turning 21 and wanna know what I did that night: Don't bother asking becouse I dont remember it at all.

And yes I saw The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey.

And yes I am completely and utterly jacked up on pain killers and god knows what (My brother just handed me a drink and told me it would help take the pain away) when I posted this chapter and wrote the last third of it.

Yay me! (I wonder if it shows in my writing...)


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